Mystery Squad [Pokémon]

[RustyBlackfyre]

Chapter List:

Chapter 1

================
================

Hello! I have had so many ideas for fanfics over the years and have never finished a single one. I always end up over planning, or getting bored with the introductory chapters. So this fic is kind of a two-in-one - I'm seeing where some of my old ideas go, and I'm trying to teach myself to just write, to see where the fic takes me.

Hopefully titles can be edited, because I'm not sure if this will be the title I still want toward the end. It's a work in progress.

If you're familiar with Pokémon I guess I'd say this is kind of like a Mystery Dungeon fic, but on a new continent or something like that, because I wanted to add some new elements to a Mystery Dungeon kind of world. But essentially it's all Pokémon here, no people or other beings.

For those that want a little help visualizing Pokémon (I think I'm going to write as if you're fairly familiar with Pokémon and their attacks), I'm going to try to link to its Bulbapedia page the first time it's mentioned in any chapter.

Now, without further ado, I present to you the... Prologue? Chapter 1? I'm going with Prologue. It's a prologue.

================
================

Prologue

Have you ever had a goal so intense that you'd do anything to achieve it?

I think I would...

Wait, why can't I remember much about myself?

My name... It's Cymbre.

A warrior. A hero. That's what I am. At least, that's what my name says.

Eugh, my head is pounding. Why is it so hard?

Ow, that was awfully sudden. What is that? Oh man, am I...

-----

The Poliwhirl leaned in closely to check if its target was still breathing. When the tiny black Salandit suddenly opened its eyes again and lashed out with a feeble claw, Poliwhirl hopped backward and blasted the little heap with a flurry of glowing blue bubbles.

The Bubble Beam threw Salandit back into a nearby tree. It squeaked miserably when it hit the trunk, then fell to the ground with a soft thump. Salandit looked at Poliwhirl, who was waiting in a fighting stance. It opened its mouth and managed to croak, "Stop... please."

It was as if Poliwhirl hadn't heard a thing. It just yelled a quick, "Whirl!" before launching a powerful jet of water from its belly. The Salandit put its head down and closed its eyes, waiting to be knocked out.

But that didn't happen. Salandit opened its eyes, and standing there in front of it was a tall, slender Leavanny. She looked back at Salandit and winked. "I'll handle it from here, hon." And she handled it.

Poliwhirl didn't stand a chance. Every time it tried to launch another big Hydro Pump, Leavanny would block it with a green, glowing Leaf Storm attack. It was such an artistic way to block a water-type move and get a few hits in, too. When Poliwhirl tried using Ice Punch, that failed too. As it swung its frosty fist at Leavanny, she used an Aerial Ace move to get behind Poliwhirl and launch a close-range Energy Ball.

Poliwhirl was soon exhausted. Leavanny rushed at it with one arm forward. With a long, glowing leaf, she struck Poliwhirl so hard, it rolled into a nearby stream. There was a loud splash, then Poliwhirl floated along and allowed itself to be swept away.

Salandit was still looking toward the stream, marveling at how effortlessly this beautiful Leavanny chased off the wild Pokémon, when the beautiful Leavanny suddenly appeared right in front of Salandit. "Oh, sweetie, you're not looking too good. Here, have a Sitrus Berry or three." It was then that Salandit noticed the little bag strung around Leavanny's waist. From there, she pulled out a few lumpy yellow berries. She kept pressing them against Salandit's mouth until the little one finally ate some.

Immediately, Salandit felt refreshed. She suddenly jumped to her feet, breathing rapidly and looking all around. "What's going on? Why was that Poliwhirl so mad at me? Where are we? Who are you?"

Leavanny smiled and patted Salandit's arm. "It's all right, little one. I'm Leavanny, no particular nickname here. Have you got a name?"

"Cymbre," rasped Salandit. "I'm pretty sure I'm Cymbre."

"That's quite the name!" Leavanny laughed. Even her laugh was light, effortless, and carried gently away on a breeze. "Well Cymbre, it's nice to meet you! I was heading in to Entoweb if you want to tag along for now. Maybe your head will clear up on the way, and if not, there's an Inn. I'm sure Steenee would be happy to give you a room, free of charge!" She stepped past the tree that Cymbre was sitting against, then looked back questioningly.

Not knowing where else to go, Cymbre stretched her tiny legs and followed her new friend.

[RustyBlackfyre]

Chapter 1

Fortunately, this Entoweb wasn't very far. Even after all those Sitrus berries, Cymbre was still feeling kind of sore.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but she was pleasantly surprised. Leavanny led Cymbre through the only gap in a thick wall of undergrowth and into a busy village. Entoweb was hidden from the rest of the forest by a wall of bushes and vines, but was still open to the clear, bright sky. There were cottages both large and small, decorated with a layer of grass and flowers on the roofs. There were dirt roads and plenty of Pokémon heading to and fro, but what caught Cymbre's eye was the clothing.

Every other Pokémon seemed to be wearing some kind of scarf, or hat, or shirt. Some were pretty and some looked heavy and metallic. Cymbre suddenly felt very exposed, and only now realized that even her own buddy Leavanny was wearing a tiny gray necklace with a green gem set in it.

It felt like an odd sight to see, but Cymbre couldn't place exactly why. She turned to Leavanny to ask about the clothing everyone was wearing, but Leavanny spoke first. "Now I'm not sure where you're from or what business you might've gotten into, hon, but Steenee's inn is a place of peace." Leavanny spoke sweetly but sternly, eyeing Cymbre before continuing. "She won't ask too many questions, but with privacy and comfort comes the promise that you'll respect her place of business. I hope you understand."

Cymbre nodded. "Of course. Thanks, Leavanny." As they walked through the bustling town, the locals occasionally glanced at Cymbre curiously. Most of them just went about their business, but occasionally a child would wave, and Cymbre made silly faces as she passed. "Hey, Leavanny? How come everyone is wearing so much?"

Cymbre's tall green friend gave her a quick side-eye and hesitated before replying, "Now I'm really not sure what your deal is, but if you go around saying things like that, folks might get the wrong impression. Some might even think you're a feral Pokémon." The little Salandit nodded thoughtfully.

Before she even realized they had arrived, Cymbre found herself stepping through a curtain of soft, hanging trails of leaves and into a cozy room. There were tables and chairs of varying sizes scattered throughout the main area. Over to one side was a fireplace with a tiny pool, a loose patch of dirt, and a few beds spread out nearby.

It was unoccupied, however. Most of the room was empty, except the curved wooden counter straight toward the back. The Pokémon behind the counter had green hair-like leaves and slender white arms. She perked up when she saw who was approaching.

"Leavanny!" The innkeeper hopped over the counter and bounced over to greet her friend with a hip-bump. "Now what did you bring me this time? I can't cook her, I'm pretty sure no one will eat a Salandit stew!" Cymbre glanced at Leavanny, who smiled a shook her head a little.

"Steenee here is just playing." Leavanny nudged Cymbre forward and looked back at Steenee before continuing, "My buddy Cymbre here was having a rough time with a feral Poliwhirl in the forest. Luckily I was there to chase it off, but now Cymbre needs a good rest."

Steenee grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "It's a small town, so we don't get lots of visitors. You can pick a room upstairs!" Leavanny waved her along, so Cymbre went ahead to the wooden staircase behind the counter while the two Grass-types caught up.

Going up the stairs, Cymbre was greeted by another little nook with a handful of tables and chairs, and then a short hallway. There was one door at the end of the hallway, and two on each side. Cymbre went to the room at the end, pushing the door open. The room had a soft carpeting of grass, two beds, and large windows that allowed the sunlight to flood the room. There was a shelf carved out of a thick log, and between the beds was a wide table. Noticing something on the bedside table, Cymbre went over to investigate.

There was a small stack of broad, yellow leaves and several tiny pots filled with various colorful paints. By itself to one side was one yellow leaf that had already been painted on. The image was some kind of silver and yellow pendant, with sharp silver arcs painted on the edges.

She was staring at the painting so intently, she didn't notice the face next to hers until it spoke. "What ya doing in my room?" Despite the voice being soft and low, Cymbre was so startled, she squeaked and turned around suddenly, smashing her tiny foot into the table's leg. "Oh no, I'm sorry I scared you!"

Cymbre glared up at the speaker. Or rather, she glared down at him. He was only a little bit shorter than her, but looked similarly built. Except he was mostly a bright yellow, with a black head and ears. "Steenee said to pick a room," Cymbre muttered indignantly.

Somehow, the yellow Pokémon looked even more apologetic. "I'm sorry. I don't always sleep here, I just pick random rooms or sometimes I sleep in the lounge when it's empty. I'm a Helioptile, but everyone around here calls me Cloudy on account of my head's always in the clouds. How's your foot by the way?"

Once the moment had passed and Cymbre's foot was no longer throbbing, she was more agreeable. She barely got a word in while Cloudy introduced himself. Already Cymbre had learned that Cloudy grew up in town, but didn't know his parents because he was left here as an egg. He was rambling on when Cymbre noticed that Cloudy wasn't wearing anything either.

"Hey, Cloudy? Can I ask you something?"

He immediately stopped chattering, completely unbothered at being interrupted. "Yeah, friend? Oh, what's your name? If you're going to be staying here I should call you something other than friend, I think."

"It's Cymbre. So on my way here I noticed a lot of the Pokémon were wearing a bunch of clothes. Is that the usual thing here?"

Cloudy seemed a little surprised, but was happy to offer up an explanation. "Well, there is a Festival coming up, but that's next week. But that might be why some of them are wearing cute bows and stuff. Or were you wondering about the armor too?" Without waiting for any confirmation, he continued, "We have a couple of local exploration teams, but they don't go too far from the village, so they don't usually wear heavy armor. There's been talk of some super feral Pokémon out in the forest though, so maybe a new exploration team is here to check that out."

It was all a little overwhelming, and Cymbre's fatigue must have shown clear on her face. She was trying her best to stand steadily, but soon even her chatty Helioptile buddy noticed she was exhausted. He reached up to grab his paints and leaves and, cradling his art supplies carefully, waddled out of the room.

Cymbre had a hazy memory of waving and muttering a goodbye before climbing into one of the beds and drifting off to sleep.