Chapter 190 - My SI Stash #90 - PMD: Warped Skies by Team Ion (PokemonMysteryDungeon:ExplorersOfSky) (1/2)

-SI in to the game Pokemon Mystery Dungeon(specifically Explorers of Sky) as a Meowth~ I remembered going ape shit when I was young cuz I got a Charmander from the personality test lmfao~

Sypnosis: Playing the part of the hero sounded fun at first, until he took a meaty punch to the face. Stranded in a world reminiscent of a game he once knew, a human-turned-Meowth struggles to retain his humanity while filling the shoes of the game's protagonists. Unfortunately, his feet are so much smaller. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, SI-OC. Arc 1 Completed!

Rated: T

Words: 438K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13171552/1/PMD-Warped-Skies (Team Ion)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

The sun warmed his fur, probed his eyelids, and pressed its every-burning presence along his entire body, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail.

He moved over, making a pained sound. There was an overpowering feeling of foggy weight on his brain, everything hurt, and he didn't feel like dealing with life at the moment.

Falling back asleep was a mercy. One that would not be granted.

”Oh my gosh!”

A high, but boyish, voice cracked through the air like a whip to the ear. The foggy weight immediately flashed into eye-watering pain and two brown-tipped paws clasped themselves over his pointed ears.

There were numerous things wrong with that, compounded further by the erratic twitching of his tail, but there was no time to think about such things.

”Um… hello?”

Well now it'd be rude to continue rolling into a ball to escape such cruelty.

Watching this all go down was a non-descript shinx. He had slept a difficult night over the thunder and rain and wind howling around his cliff-based home and had dragged himself up a little later than his usual start to the day.

Finding an unconscious meowth effectively on his doorstep was another wrinkle to his morning, but one that could be managed.

It was half-soaked from the previous nights storm, and he felt a wave of guilt. Had this poor meowth been searching for shelter, but been barred by his closed door? It was dangerously close to the cliffs edge, it might have fallen, and no one would have ever known.

The meowth in question peered at him, silent, fur somewhat raised in readiness to do something should things move south from here.

Its eyes were adjusting and spotting a shinx gave it a most curious feeling of vertigo. A shinx. A shinx. Pokémon. Electric-type. Pokémon. Shinx. There was something wrong here, and he was fighting morning brain to figure out what it was.

A pendant was around the shinx's neck, unnoticed until a gust of wind caused it to swing slightly.

”WOAH!”

Shinx started back as Meowth exploded into movement, leaping up in a sudden panic and skirting back.

Right to the cliffs edge.

”Watch out!” Shinx cried, leaping forward as Meowth stepped into open air. He rocked for a brief moment, before his balance left him, and he began to fall.

”AH!”

”Got you!”

He fell about an inch before something clamped around his flailing right paw. Teeth pierced through his paw and a new shock of pain went through him, unfortunately literally.

The shinx was sparking and had zapped him in the process.

This was, however, rather fortunate. His initial reaction to being bitten was to unleash the beast and drag them both down, shocking him stunned him long enough for the shinx to pull him up.

Shinx panted, once he had them both safe. Meowth was holding his paw, which was bleeding slightly, but he didn't feel too bad. He had saved him from falling after it.

Wasn't even difficult, this meowth was surprisingly light.

Looking closely, Shinx thought he could see Meowth's ribs. Meowth caught him staring, and he glanced away, ears flushing.

”Thank you,” Meowth managed to gasp. This morning was going terribly, he had been bitten, shocked, and nearly fell to his death.

And claws.

And a tail.

Meowth glanced down at his furry body and carefully poked himself in the leg.

”Huh,” he said, looking down. His lovely human hand was much smaller, covered in white fur, and had a disturbing lack of digits comparatively. He wiggled them, hoping that his fingers would reappear. The most curious feeling occurred when he tried to move either his pointer or thumb, both attempted actions would move just one of the three digits.

Glancing down further, more cream-coloured fur. Trailing down to hind paws that were tipped with brown fur. He tried to clench his toes, and claws popped out. Trying the same with his hands would cause his new paws to also unsheathe claws.

He felt up, without unclenching his hand, and felt his forehead. The feeling of metal was equally unwelcome as everything else.

Shinx stared at him in confusion as the stranger that had just jumped off the cliff just began to touch all over himself in mounting concern. ”Excuse me?” he asked but received no response, the meowth was too busy poking himself. ”Hello? Meowth? Are you okay?”

”Okay,” Meowth breathed out. He felt a little dizzy, he'd like to sit down but the feeling of falling off the cliff came back so he decided to keep standing. If a little unsteadily. ”This is fine.”

”What is?”

One of Meowth's eyes twitched for a moment, but he took another breath. ”This. Is fine.”

”Okay…” Shinx glanced around, there was no one else here. He took a breath and turned back. ”Okay, um… are you okay? You must have been out in that storm all night, you're soaked. And, uh, half dry.”

Meowth's eyes fell on him and Shinx felt for a moment like Meowth was seeing him for the first time. It was a little weird.

His eyes flicked down, spotting the treasure. Shinx shifted in place, uncomfortable. He wanted to cover his treasure up, it felt rude to do, however.

”Huh,” Meowth said, blinking a few times. The vertigo was coming back, along with a lot of stuff that was no déjà vu but felt an awful lot like it.

”Shinx… that is in fact a shinx,” he thought, eyes widening. ”That's the Relic Fragment. This… this is that cliff place, isn't it? Does that mean?” He looked up, past the shinx. It was farther than he would have expected, but in the distance he could make out a few buildings.

Treasure Town.

A dream then. That's what this was.

He looked back to the shinx, the partner. He was, in a word, adorable. This felt odd, lucid dreams he tended to wake up from very quickly, but he might as well play this one for the moment and chuckle about it with friends when he woke up.

”I'm Sean,” he introduced, stretching a paw out in greeting. His eyes still hurt, his head was pounding a little, and his heart felt particularly there beating in his dream-c_h_e_s_t.

It was curious how a simple greeting could have such a profound effect. Shinx's ears and tip of his nose went red and he spluttered for a moment.

”Na-? You? I… okay.” He cleared his throat, Sean slowly lowered his arm, gathering that a shinx probably wouldn't shake, and he clearly said something wrong already.

”Did I… say something wrong?” he asked, feeling a little embarrassed now. Of course his dreams would be about awkward social embarrassment in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon world. Just like the waking world.

”I… no, no, I don't judge or anything. Um…”

Sean sighed, now Shinx wouldn't even look at him. He felt edges of embarrassment try to cling to him, but he wouldn't let this drag his dream into one of those horrifying trips that make you afraid of sleeping.

He'd had enough of those dreams.

”Could you tell me where I am?” he asked. He already knew, Carvanha Bluff or something? Sharpedo? It was some sort of fish pokémon, he was sure.

”You don't know?” Shinx asked, ears perking up. There was a glimmer of the love to do good by others in his eyes, forcing the embarrassment back for the moment.

Sean shrugged. It felt odd to be standing so short, and his shoulders didn't roll so well. His tail flicked, good lord that was an odd sensation. Almost like having another arm, except poking out from behind.

He didn't really want to think about how his dream was able to simulate that feeling so well.

”I don't,” Sean answered, shaking his head. ”I don't remember much of anything actually; who are you and how did I get here?”

”There was a… storm last night,” Shinx said, quietly. He frowned deeply and Sean wondered if he said something wrong again. ”My guess is that you got lost in the storm last night. It's kind of hard to see what's ahead of you with it being dark and rain and all. You must have came around here pretty late if you passed Treasure Town.”

He paused and frowned. ”You don't remember anything? You said your… uh.”

He began to grow embarrassed again, Sean quickly cut through that. ”You can just call me M-Meowth if you want?” he said, nearly stumbling on the name. He looked down again, it was excessively trippy to not see human there, yet it also felt completely normal.

Shinx's expression brightened in relief and he nodded. ”Yes, we don't really know each other so that makes more sense. I'm Shinx, hello.”

”Hi.”

Shinx smiled at him for a moment before an ear twitched and he c_o_c_ked his head. ”What do you remember?” he asked.

”Not much,” Sean answered, looking down. He remembered what role he was supposed to play and briefly considered straying. Things were already a bit off course, he wondered why he was at the cliff rather than the beach. ”Just my name, really.”

”Oh, well… you might need to go to the guild then!” Shinx said, briefly beaming with energy. It was cut short in a moments notice. ”I'm sure they can help you there.” He turned to gesture with a paw, waving at a pinkish blob in the far distance.

Sean was surprised he could see so well, normally anything more than a few meters away would be blurry. Dream magic, he decided.

”Wigglytuff Guild,” Sean murmured, Shinx turned back with a note of surprise.

”Yes! You remember that, then?”

Sean blinked before shrugging. ”I can see a Wigglytuff from here,” he said, it was true. His eyes were surprisingly good. Although he may not have guessed Wigglytuff if he didn't already know it.

Shinx nodded. ”Good eyes.”

Smiling, Sean asked. ”Would you show me, then?” he asked. ”I don't really know the place.”

His companion paused for a moment. ”I… okay. Sure, I can show you. Treasure Town can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you don't remember it…”

With that, Shinx began to lead him into town. It was a longer walk than Sean had anticipated, there was a great deal of overgrowth heading to and from Sharpedo Bluff. Behind them a scrap of silver blew in the wind, unnoticed by either one.

As they walked in a somewhat stiff silence, Sean took the opportunity to look around. The world was beautiful, he had to admit. Trees with deep emerald leaves swayed in the wind, up ahead as the land sloped downwards there was a bridge over a slice of seawater.

Treasure Town grew larger and larger until it was larger than life. Dozens of pokémon walked around, talking and playing and laughing and bartering. Pidgey. Zoroark. Beedrill. Greninja. Machoke. Sunflora. Sableye. Wurmple. Poochyena. Swellow. Litleo.

There were even pokémon he didn't know the species of, which filled him with brief excitement before remembering that this was a dream and that brown, yellow, and black pikachu-looking thing didn't actually exist.

Morpeko would be offended if she could hear his thoughts.

Shinx's pace increased suddenly. He wasn't quite running away from him, but there was a noticeable increase in speed, Sean hurried to not be left behind.

Shinx's haste, unfortunately, just drew attention.

”Shinx, dear?” Kangaskhan said, spotting the two. ”And… Meowth? How do you do?”

”Good morning Kangaskhan,” Shinx said cheerily. ”I'm sorry, I've got no time to talk, I'm helping Meowth to the guild.”

”Ah,” Kangaskhan said, spotting someone else. ”I shall not keep you, then.”

The time was enough, however.

”Ehh, Shinx!” the litleo, Sean spotted earlier sauntered up to them. Tail fl_i_c_k_i_n_g back and forth while a smirk slid its way onto his face. ”I was just wondering if you were going to drag yourself into town or not today.”

”I'm here now,” Shinx said, stiffly. ”And I'm going to the guild.” He immediately stepped around him, leaving exactly one litleo between him and Sean. ”With Meowth,” he added, as Sean was dillydallying.

Sean wished he hadn't had said that, however, as Litleo's gaze moved to him and he continued standing in the way. Sean noticed a few small things, Litleo's posture changed to grow slightly taller, paws spread wider, tail stopped moving, and his eyes narrowed just a tiny bit.

”Got a pal, huh?” he asked, staring at Sean with nothing less intense than predatory. He looked him up and down. ”Nice.”

”We're going,” Shinx said, voice strained, and Sean nodded to Litleo and edged his way past.

”Good day,” he murmured, Litleo didn't reply.

As they walked - perfectly not in a rush - away Sean thought he heard the litleo say something about seeing Charmander before there was too much space between them.

”Who… was that?” he asked as they crossed the bridge. The wonder of seeing Treasure Town from this angle was somewhat dampened by their obvious rush, he didn't have time to talk to the Kecleon Brothers, or Electivire, or visit Marowak, or even get creeped out by Duskull. They were speeding along just below a run.

”Litleo,” Shinx replied, voice remaining tense like a stretched length of thread, liable to snap at any moment.

Sean opened his mouth to deliver a retort but rethought it and closed his mouth. Then he said it anyway, because there were no consequences here. ”I gathered that.”

Shinx didn't respond at first, but he eventually sent a confused look his way. ”Then why did you ask?”

The question was so earnest, Sean's natural sarcastic response was completely lost to the winds and he shrugged instead.

They exited the town, taking only ten minutes to cross the surprisingly large town, and only slightly out of breath.

Sean looked around eagerly, but there was no Spinda's Café. ”I suppose it wouldn't be till later… but can I make it appear?” he thought hard, visualising the café.

Nothing.

And Shinx was also talking, and he missed some of it.

”I'm sorry, could you repeat that?” he asked, Shinx stopped and nodded.

”Sure, the Wigglytuff Guild is just up there,” he said, gesturing to a terribly large number of steps. ”You need to step on the grate to be checked out before you can enter. Once you're in… uh, someone should be able to help you.”

”You're not coming with me?” he asked, surprised.

Shinx cringed. ”I… well I kinda have other things planned today.”

”Like what?” Sean asked. Part of him felt bad to see Shinx cringing further, but most of him was just interested in seeing the results of this.

”W-well, I, uh… nothing too important, I'll see you up there I guess.”

”Thanks!” Sean beamed and Shinx's nerves faded slightly and he smiled. He batted at the Relic Fragment for a moment before taking a breath and followed him up the stairs.

On the way up, Sean found something a little concerning. He could feel tired from the powerwalking and now climbing these steps. But he was sure he'd felt tired in dreams before, that was a thing. Right?

The Wigglytuff Guild was a little horrifying up close. A massive Wigglytuff head with a tied plume of feathers at the top. The eyes were wide and unblinking, there was odd totem polls flanking it, and the mouth yawned into oblivion.

About par for the course for a Wigglytuff.

Before the closed gate, there was a thatched grate that Shinx pointed to. ”Stand there, and someone will read your footprint.”

”Read my footprint?” Sean asked, stepping forward. ”Are they going to tell my future or something?”

”No. Just what you are?”

”This seems a bit… odd.”

”The place is. But you'll be fine once you're in.”

Sean gave Shinx one more dubious look before stepping on. There were different sized holes to ensure someone would be able to have their entire foot viewed without trouble and he needed to wait only a moment before a response came.

”Pokémon detected!” a high-pitched, energetic, voice cried. ”Pokémon detected!”

There was but another moment before someone boomed. ”Who's footprint? Who's footprint?”

Loudred's voice boomed all around them and Sean's headache flared up again.

”The footprint is… Meowth! The footprint is Meowth!”

The voices stopped and Sean glanced back to Shinx, who was watching enviously. He smiled and the shinx smiled back at him.

”You may enter,” Loudred declared and the grate began to rise, allowing entrance into the guild.

Grinning, part of him always wanted to do this, Sean turned to Shinx with a pleased look. ”Your turn!”

Shinx started. ”What?” he squawked.

”Is there SOMEONE else there?” Loudred's voice boomed, causing them both to jump. ”They must be checked out AS WELL!”

”N-no, it's fine,” Shinx squeaked, already backing off. ”Just… go in. Please.”

Before Sean could get a word in, Shinx ran off and the gate clanged shut.

”Sorry,” he called, looking down into the grate where he knew Diglett to lay. ”He's, uh, a bit shy and he's run off.”

”A LIKELY story,” Loudred yelled, voice still carrying easily enough that it sounded like he was bellowing into his ears directly. ”Get him on the grate or buzz off.”

Sean flinched and stepped back. ”I'll… go find him,” he said, feeling shame flush through him. He ran away from the guild and on his trip downstairs he realised just why Shinx might have had trouble finding the nerves to enter the guild.

The grate wasn't the first barrier, Loudred was.

And now he had to track down a wayward shinx partner in a place he only knew from playing a game. He hoped his dream would show him the way.

As he ran, he expected the dream to switch, but it continued, and his paws stung slightly. Sean frowned, staring at his feet for a moment. He clenched them, and claws popped out. Also a weird sensation. The end of his tail also stung slightly, it had been dragging down on the ground the entire day and lifting it up felt very bizarre.

Sean felt a seed of doubt.

”This is… no! That's ridiculous,” he scoffed, shaking his head. A claw popped out of his paws and he debated scratching himself with it, that was what you did, right?

Pressing a claw into his body wasn't the easiest to do, however, and before he could commit, he was nearly bowled over.

”Whoops,” a deep voice chuckled with mirth. ”Sorry,” he said, completely unapologetically.

”Heh-heh, watch yourself,” another voice simpered and before Sean could get a good look, the pair flew off.

He looked up as the pair departed, spotting what he knew to be a koffing and zubat fly towards the beach.

The beach!

Of course.

Sean picked himself up and ran after them, colliding with something else almost instantly. ”Watch yourself,” the owner, a skuntank, growled before stomping off.

Sean stared after the pokémon for a moment, but Skuntank didn't look back. He was heading away from the beach, into town, and Sean breathed a sigh of relief. Before immediately gagging from the stench.

He grabbed his nose, only to find he didn't have one. Just slits for nostrils. ”Am I a snake or something?” he yelled before dropping his paw. This dream was rapidly falling out of his control, but that was honestly relieving.

His dreams tended to be rather irksome after a while. He still had a goal, however, and he ran after Koffing and Zubat. The trail downhill winded around a little, but he could hear the crash of waves before long and smell the salt in the air.

He could smell even without a protruding nose, which really bothered him. Almost as much as the tail that was still dragging on the ground.

He hiked it up and wacked himself in the back of the head. There was no winning here, so he settled with grabbing his tail and jogging awkwardly.

Seems that without a tail lagging behind to balance him, he fell over.

Easily.

Truly no winning.

Sean's inner war with his tail was brought to a grinding ceasefire when he finally arrived on the beach, to find Shinx sulking into the sand.

He hadn't noticed him yet and was talking out loud.

”Even in My Spot everything goes wrong!”

He seemed more angry than miserable.

”Oh, who am I kidding?” Shinx slumped into the sand. ”I'll never be brave enough to join the guild.”

Sean wasn't sure what he had missed, well he had some idea, but he decided now was time to clear his throat.

Shinx immediately jumped into the air. ”Wha-who?”

”That's Mario,” Sean answered, Shinx blinked at him. ”Hi.”

”H-Hey. What are.” He turned slightly to wipe his face as discretely as he could. ”What are you doing here?”

”I got knocked over by a couple of thugs talking about snatching something from someone, so I followed them, but they were too fast for me.”

”Oh.” Shinx's lip quivered for a moment before he shook it off. ”You didn't go into the guild?”

”Not without you,” he replied, stepping forward. He laid a gentle paw on Shinx's shoulder. ”Are you okay?”

”Yeah I'm… I'm fine.”

Sean waited in silence before Shinx buckled. ”No. They took my treasure and ran into the cave. By the time someone gets down here, they'll probably be too far away to catch. I've lost the only thing I have left!”

He buried his face into Sean's c_h_e_s_t and cried for a moment. Surprised, and a little uncomfortable, with the turn of events, Sean awkwardly patted the crying shinx on the back. ”There-there,” he said, letting Shinx cry for a bit.

Soon enough, however, Shinx pulled back. ”Thanks for coming after me,” he said, voice dejected, ”but there's no point in wasting your time on me.”

”There is every point!” Sean protested, feeling a flash of defensive anger for him. Didn't matter if this was a dream, that was not okay. ”Come on, you said they went into the cave? Let's go after them.”

”Us?” Shinx gasped. ”Into Beach Cave? That's a Mystery Dungeon!”