Capture the Shiny Victini! V1 - Fleeting Victory

[TouyaShiro]

"Danger always finds a way home, it seems," replies a disgruntled Ryota. "So that's what I'm dealing with? Well, if it gets me any closer to the Victini, I'll be sure to take care of this problem for you!"
The travelling trainer pops yet another Max Potion and starts drinking out of the bottle before he throws the rest of it on his Mega Pidgeot and Lunala, and promptly departs once more, flying in the direction of Kalos Route 12, where another ongoing conflict had been going on...

[---]

"Mother of Mew, what the heck are those things!?" Noticing the unconscious Ibuki and brother Hibiki, he then looked up at the sight above them - a machine was in the middle of assimilating a Nihilego.
"What the heck did you try doing!?"
"Dude, it wasn't me! I was just trying to protect my sister from merging with that thing! She was trying something too reckless!"
"To combat these creatures? Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen it happen... That poor old Aether President got too caught up in lust and revenge and lost sight of herself."
Looking on at the robot, Nihilego and the abomination in front of him, Ryota thinks for a moment before coming to a decision. "Hey, whoever she is, tell her this - she won't be seeing that jelly creature of hers anymore."
Hibiki notices an Ultra Wormhole appearing behind the creatures. "Wait... You can't be serious!"
With a look of determination on his face, Ryota reassures him with confidence. "Buddy, you'd better believe me and Lunala are psyched up!" At this moment, an aura surrounds Lunala as it proceeds to indeed use Psych Up, targeting any of the stat boosts that the MechaMew2 may have had on it. The Bittercold retaliates and hits Lunala square in the head, but remains flying along with its trainer, and the MechaMew2 pauses for a moment to learn Psych Up before continuing the merging process.
"Maybe I'll see you again, maybe I won't... But one thing is for sure - I don't intend to let these poor Skiddo suffer!" With the determination and hope in his heart, he commands Lunala to fire a Moongeist Beam at all three creatures, making them recoil long enough for Lunala to grab them directly and dive straight towards the wormhole.

In a blink of an eye, the wormhole, all 3 of the Hoopa-summoned creatures, as well as Ryota and his Lunala, were all gone. All that remains of the conflict are the various unconscious Skiddo, the unconscious Ibuki, Hibiki, Max and the allied gang, a feeling of static surrounding the area, and a broken shard of the Bittercold on the ground where the Ultra Wormhole once was.

[---]

Somewhere in Ultra Space, all of the contents of the Ultra Wormhole spill out. Nobody is sure of what happened in between now and the moment Ryota and the creatures disappeared, but an Ultra Wormhole is later seen in the Whirlpool Islands, with some sort of unknown entity emerging...

[---]

The Shiny Victini and Shadow Mewtwo, still in the Unknown Dungeon, were oblivious to all the conflict of the outside world deep inside the sanctuary that is the Pokémon Village. Or so it would be, up until a shadow covers the entrance. The Mewtwo who could absorb the world's energy into himself prepared a Psywave at the ready for the oncoming threat...

 

[MassiveShock11]

Meanwhile, at a room inside Black Mareep's HQ, Frank and the other higher-ups at the company held a meeting on how to grab the Shiny Victini.
"What?! The Shiny Victini is missing? We can't let everyone just do something bad to it!", Frank said while pounding his fists on the table.
"Yeah, we cannot track it down. There is something fishy going on!", one of the employees said.
"Apparently, the Shiny Victini last appeared at Kalos Route 12, or the Baa De Mer ranch. We had a recording of the events there, thanks to a drone flying around the area.", Frank responded, while holding a USB flash drive containing the footage about what happened. He plugged it in, and the screen showed the conflicts there.
"Is that a Breeder feeding the Shiny Victini? Apparently, I'm confused about the fact that the Pokemon doesn't have emotions while eating.", Larry said while the video is playing.
"Also, a Pokemon Trainer known as Max then went there to help protect- WHAT?! WHAT ARE THOSE CREATURES? AND WHY IS A HOOPA IN THERE?", another employee reacted.
"Gah, Max and the breeder- I mean Hibiki must've got hurt there! The winds blew his cover, and the madness keeps getting worse!", Jack The Awesome said, who is apparently one of the Black Mareep employees.
"Look at that! Some strange creature beating up the two other strange creatures!", Larry said.
The video kept on playing, while playing a conversation about the two siblings.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!", someone shouted while they are repeatedly attacking MechaMew2 and the Bittercold just before they can launch a finishing attack. The attacker revealed to be Ibuki, but something is strange...
"Hey, thanks for saving us. But sis, are you crazy? Merging with a Nihilego is powerful but it can damage you!", her brother said.
"Sorry, but this was my only option left to fend those monsters off..." Ibuki said in a sad tone.
"I... understand you... sister.", the trusting brother then responded.
Even if they knew that a person merged with Nihilego is powerful, the gang that was saved by the attack from earlier still chose to team up with Ibuki, and after an intense battle, the Bittercold and MechaMew2 were badly beat down, and Hibiki, while feeling bad of what he is about to do, attacked his sister to cancel the Nihilego fusion. "Thank you, but... I don't want to see you do something dangerous again, Ibuki.", he said while carrying his fainted sister.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?! A FREAKING NIHILEGO MERGED WITH THAT MUSICIAN? THAT'S DANGEROUS!!!", an employee shouted. At a shock, all the employees inside the room said their reactions.
"Is Ibuki crazy? Screw this!"
"Man, what kind of trick is that? I don't want to live on this planet anymore."
"That is not awesome! That is called dangerous!"
"Where the heck did she catch a Nihilego? I need to try that by myself."
"I can just use a flashbang right now to clear my mind of that!!!"
The employees spoke too much right now that they missed the part where Ryota and Hibiki had a conversation. After looking at the screen, all they saw is the aftermath of the conflict. "Go to the site immediately!", Frank ordered, and the employees fled to the site to grab evidence of the events and to evacuate Ibuki, Hibiki, and Max away.

---

Cindy, trapped in the Unown Dimension, walked around to find an escape route. "Who would even throw me into here?", she said. An Unown shaped like a letter C approached her, and she battled it to catch the Pokemon.

 

[Chidamari Sketch]

At the Whirl Islands, a swarm of numerous Kartana and Pheromosa emerge out of the Ultra Wormhole in a manner similar to disturbed doves; every single one of them was running away and/or hiding at numerous areas, presumably terrified of something within the Ultra Wormhole, which was growing inexplicably larger. As the entity started to poke out of the Wormhole, Ryota was then thrown out of the Wormhole alongside his Pidgeot, where they landed on the soft shores that lead to the caves. Both of them had evidence of major damage; Ryota was covered in scratches and bruises and his clothes were torn so badly that he's almost shirtless by this point, and his Pidgeot both had a lot of feathers missing, with only one feather remaining on its tail while its plumage appears to have been almost cut out from an apparent assault. Ryota slowly regained his consciousness as something huge began to emerge out of the Wormhole. This eldritch Pokemon not only emit unsettling noises that vaguely resembled a song, but this gigantic creature was effectively a kaiju, as its size was as almost twice as large as a Wailord. Once the eldritch Pokemon fully emerged, the injured Ryota just sat there with his jaw dropped in horror as he watches the creature then began to defy physics with its unusually high speed and use Fly to migrate somewhere

---

As the Black Mareep corps head out to the snow-covered ranch, they see MegaPod, the Mioda siblings, and Max slowly attempting to leave. Before they were about to negotiate though, they encounter the aforementioned kaiju flying calmly while making strange Raticate noises. The Black Mareep corps and the group who fought the two monsters were shocked by the size of this incomprehensible monster. One of the younger members of the Skiddo who lived there foolishly decided to act brave and attacked the strange Pokemon with a Seed Bomb. The attack did nothing to the abomination, yet it appears to be enraged by this, as it then landed on the sea of this Route, causing a brief but earth-shaking tremor as it impacts the ground. It then unleashed the same series of ear-splitting noises but in a significantly louder tone than before, causing even more loud tremors, which were then followed up by blood-curling rat-like screeches. Just after the horrid noises ends, the group began to see illusions of what appear to be doppelgangers of themselves that are running everywhere. ".....When did this turn from a Victini hunt into a Lovecraftian Horror story?" lamented one of the employees in horror as the creature begins to attack the group in violent anger with a bullet hell-esque rain of Spike Cannon, Rock Slide, and Twineedle attacks.

(At this point, this song would fit rather well.)

---

After a fierce fight, a brave trainer and his Suicune was about to give in as they were soundly defeated by the horrific deity, until another shadow came out of the entrance. The Shadow Mewtwo turned its head with a predatory glare at the intruder, but the look of anger briefly changes from a look of determined hatred to a look of confusion as he sees an almost drunk-looking Croagunk come up to the battlefield. The dentist then appeared. "Heh, apparently this Croagunk is somehow strong enough to handle a Suicune and a Darkrai, so I'll guess this outta turn out to be decent." While the battle was about to commence, the plumber and his group were waiting at the entrance of the Unknown Dungeon. "....Why would you leave your cousin against something as monstrous as that?" asked one of his lackeys, "The Ferrum League had to be closed down cuz of that thing...." "It's a distraction," groaned the plumber in an annoyed tone, "once that dirty cat is at a spot where it wouldn't see it coming, we assault the living fuck out of it with our army of Pokemon in hopes of taking it out and perhaps even capturing it." As the group secretly spied on the battle going on, the Picnicker held a suspicious Poke Ball while giggling, as if she plots something inhumane.

 

[TouyaShiro]

(This music would be playing on my end, haha.)
"Was... Was that thing my fault?" The injured Ryota ponders about the circumstances that led to the glitch-like creature's creation, rather than the nature of the beast itself.
"Gods... What happened to me being analytical? I'm a doctor, for Helix's sake! At this rate, the world will be destroyed, Victini's probably gonna disappear in between dimensions if not outright ravaged and I'll never get that mercenary job done for that stout Hoopa dude..."
Laying back on a rock while tending to the injured Pidgeot, the doctor-adventurer gives off a slight smirk. "Heh. Well, that apple seems to have endured a lot already. I think it'll be just fine... As for me, though, most of my friends will be out of commission for a while."
The Pidgeot, injured but stable, slowly starts to wake up after hours of treatment. Feeding it a Leppa Berry, and realising that it won't be able to fly until its feathers grow back, Ryota decides it would be best to exercise with a walk for a while so as to get their usual spirits back. "Let's go exploring, partner. Now, where are we right now...?"

[---]

The picnicker, Croagunk, and Shadow Mewtwo all have a staredown for about 30 seconds before Croagunk croaks. At that moment, Shadow Mewtwo rushes in to begin an assault, but the picnicker calls in another Croagunk and the black and orange Pokémon is sent reeling back from the impact of Toxic. Quickly taking advantage of the situation, the main Croagunk then steps in to attack, taking Shadow Mewtwo's HP down in a flash and knocking it down in 10 seconds flat. The gang, all amazed at the sight they saw before them, started conversing amongst themselves.
"Well, that was... disappointing."
"Dude, the black cat is ours!"
"Boss, who trained that thing?"
"Who cares? Let's just grab these two and get the hell out of here!"
The gang start piling into the Unknown Dungeon and the Victini, still eating a berry, is hoisted up and dropped into the plumbers bag like a golf ball. Awakening from its unconscious state, the Shadow Mewtwo is suddenly met with the red rays of a Poké Ball...

 

[MassiveShock11]

"Get behind me!", one of the Black Mareep employees ordered, holding something looking like a vacuum. The object he is holding is actually an Ultra Vacuum, a very powerful Black Mareep invention that can suck up anything and send them into another dimension.
"Seriously? That thing is freakin' single-use! If you use it, that vanishes along with the victim and since we lost the blueprint, that weapon will be erased from Black Mareep history! The boss will rage!", Larry said.
"That's fine. We still have many weapons and inventions.", Frank responded. "Go suck that abomination up! I'll help evacuate the Skiddo and the other trainers!", he continued. The Black Mareep employees then evacuated the ranch Pokemon, Hibiki, Max, the breeders, and Ibuki who is still weakened from merging with Nihilego. Everyone was safely evacuated in a place safe from any attacks, except the employee sucking up the aggressive creature and other Black Mareep workers helping.
"Get in the vacuum!", the employee said while struggling to make the glitch-like creature move nearer. "Get.... in..... the.... VACUUM!", he said while pulling harder. "I said.... GET IN!!!", he screamed. The employee then pulled even harder, and suddenly, a bright light filled the area, making the others say their reactions.
"It's too freaking bright here!!!"
"Did we... succeed?"
"Don't make us blind!!!"
"What would happen next? Find out at the next episode!!!"
The light then cleared, and both the creature and the vacuum disappeared. The only thing that was heard was the joyful shouts of the employees after successfully sucking up the kaiju-like thing. They all ran to the site of evacuation, and reported their success.

---

After countless hours of exploration, Cindy finally found an exit inside the Unown Dimension. "Thank you! A freaking exit!", she said. Running into the place, she says goodbye to the Unown, and she jumped into the portal. Where would she probably end up? What could possibly go wrong?

---

The plumber and his gang thought that they could take the Victini for themselves, until a back attack from a Sylveon hit the former. Other Pokemon owned by someone then joined the fight, and any of the people had no time to act. All of them then got knocked out, and the Shiny Victini was then snatched. "You've got preeeeety bad luck. The Victini is mine.", a fleeing Cindy said, who apparently got lucky that she ended up at the Unknown Dungeon.

 

[Chidamari Sketch]

Just immediately afterwards, a Mega Aggron owned by the picnicker emerges out of the ground and crushes the Sylveon many times with its own weight using Heavy Slam until it fainted. The Picnicker ordered said Aggron to beat up Cindy as well until she let go of the Victini, and using this advantage, the plumber used his Hoopa once again to transport Cindy somewhere once again, this time in the Distortion World. It turns out that all of the gang had at least one Steel type and Cindy simply thought she defeated all of them. The gang then simply left to Citadark Isle with a portal while using Mega Rayquaza to form another barrier of storms

---

The Black Mareep organization's joy was short lived; something within the energy of the vacuum was able to mutate the Pokemon. And through absorbing this radiation, the Pokemon mutated into a smaller, yet significantly more powerful form than before. The new and improved Rayquaza-sized abomination then broke out of the now powerless vacuum, went back to this dimension through a Wormhole that suddenly appeared in the ranch and viciously pursued the group and began its rampage by destroying the environment around it through Tri Attack

 

[MegaPod]

Suddenly, Braixen's spirit, who has been silently trying to watch over me this whole time, flies head-on into the wild creature, attempting to possess it and inhibit its rampage. A portal to the spirit world opens, and a whole flood of Ghost-types emerge to weaken the behemoth and drag it down. I watch as the destructive entity slowly disappears through the shrinking portal. Braixen's spirit then emerges through a smaller portal and reunites with me.

Then, a brilliant pink flash illuminates the sky above the ranch. Palkia appears with a roar, apparently distraught over the constant warping of its domain, space, as of recently. With a wave of its arm, the shiny Victini, the plumber and his gang, Ryota, and Cindy all appear at the ravaged ranch. Before Palkia can unleash its fury, however, I get a sneaky idea. Braixen simply looks at me with her now routine skepticism at my notions. Pointing to the Bittercold shard, I ask Palkia, "Don't you need to send that hunk of ice back where it came from?" Palkia looks at it, then rips open a pinkish portal leading to another realm. In under three seconds, I dash for the shiny Victini, snatch it from the plumber and company, then lunge into the portal. Shocked and confused, the other players have little else to do besides follow me through...

Players, we're now in the world of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon! You will find yourself in the form of a Pokémon, and be able to talk to the other Pokémon in the world. I will let @TouyaShiro help guide this phase, as it was his idea in the first place.

 

[TouyaShiro]

Stepping through the portal into the new world, Ryota emerges through to see a village filled Pokémon going about their everyday lives as if they were human. Noticing that the Pokémon around him seemed to be bigger than usual, he looks around and sees a vast amount of Pokémon running towards what seems to be a school. Before he has a chance to ask what's going on, he's greeted by a Nuzleaf.
"Hey, are you new here? Seems like we get a lot of young Pokémon coming through these days..."
"Young? Dude, you're massive! I'm an adult, for crying out loud, and here I am talking to a Nuzleaf who's about 3 times my height! Can you tell me what's going on here?" Ryota's confusion continues as he stares up at the Nuzleaf's head. He pauses for a moment in thought before continuing...
"Oh, I see. Well, I guess I'm no stranger to this - I'll do what I can to help a travelling Pikachu out."
Ryota smiles and nods, but then it quickly disappears when he takes a moment to process the words from Nuzleaf's mouth. He then looks down at his feat, then lifts up his... hands.
"P... p-pi... Pikaaaaaa?!"

10 minutes pass before Ryota arrives at Nuzleaf's house, and all the meanwhile he continues to stutter in Pikachu onomatopoeia until he looks at a mirror and sees just what he's become. "Ooooh... okay, that's freaky. In all my years of being a doctor and researcher, I never imagined anything like this would happen. Me, a Pikachu? Does that mean I could theoretically do a Thunderbolt if I learned how to do so?"
"Perhaps! Don't try it on me, though." The Nuzleaf grabs a bag for the Pikachu-sized Ryota to carry. "By the way, what brings you here in the first place?"
"Well, it's... a long story, haha. An extremely rare Pokémon was found back on our world, and pretty much everyone - including myself - are out trying to get it for ourselves."
"Get Pokémon? Don't you mean recruit?" The Nuzleaf is understandably confused, due to the concept of a Pokémon Trainer being foreign to the world it lives in.
"Don't worry about it too much. All I need to know is where my partners are... I think I lost them while heading through that portal."
"Hmm..." The Nuzleaf thinks for a moment, and a brief glow surrounds him before he speaks. "How about you go to the Expedition Society over at Lively Town? You might be able to start looking if you consult their help. Perhaps I could help you get there?"
"Sure, if you're willing. By the way, what's this bag for? I don't mind, but why is it stuffed with food?"
"Well, you gotta keep your strength up while you're out and about! Trust me, it's not that easy."
"I don't get it, but thank you! Now, shall we head off?" And so, Ryota begins exploring the new world in hopes of finding any clue to Megapod's location... and that of his Pidgeot.

[Please, read the spoilers down below!]

Spoiler: World of Mystery Dungeon: Guide to Victory

Yes, this special phase was my idea! So, I'm not sure if everyone will follow what I'm saying here, but here's how it's going to go down (on my end, at least). The bold parts are the most important things to read in each point, so read them well:

• In this phase, everyone is turned into a Pokémon based on the player characters that are selectable in the Mystery Dungeon series. Choose one based on a personality quiz, or choose it directly! I don't mind, and apparently that's how it works in Super Mystery Dungeon - and besides, the selection is largely limited to starters and many basic, first-evolution Pokémon anyway. If you want a full list of every Pokémon ever available in a Mystery Dungeon game, I'll drop a spoiler down below. I imagine it'll make for amusing results with the more forceful characters trying to drag Victini with their smaller bodies.
  
• The character's partner will join them shortly after they arrive, serving as their Partner Pokémon as they explore through the dungeons. The other Pokémon of their team have been lost in the dungeons and it's up to you to find and recruit them in a dungeon! For those with many partners, it won't be easy to gather them all, but if you can, it may give you a huge advantage!
• Battles between other players will play out as normal, though obviously the trainers are now part of the fight too! Some things may change depending on the effects of the move in Mystery Dungeon itself...
• It'd be hard to manage an inventory for every single one of your characters, so I won't push you to make it essential to monitor exact stocks and the like for 100% of the journey, but I would like to see references to items from this series every now and then in relation to exploration and battle! The race to find all your partners, as well as the Victini - you can't be catching up to the leader on an empty stomach, now! And stocking up on those Reviver Seeds may also help...
• Should one faint in battle and not have a Reviver Seed, you'll be sent back to the main town that serves as the base for your team. In this case, I'd respawn back at Lively Town.
• Major edit: Also, you're stuck without your original inventory from the original world. You were just turned into a Pokémon, after all! I'm not sure when I want to let players access their human inventory again aside from the end of the arc where we return to the original world, so put your feedback in! I will say this, however - Any knowledge that your characters have can be used to affect what they prioritise in items for the world of Mystery Dungeon. The Djinn's Bottle, for example, could be a prime target for the plumber once it comes into play.
• As for how this phase ends... Well, I haven't decided on that quite yet. I'm kinda trying to figure out that part myself. Any input on this would be appreciated!

As you can see it's basically a theatrics guide, haha. It's not gonna be the most restrictive phase, per se - I guess it's more or less me trying to think of ways to see how we could incorporate different elements of different series into our writing. Perhaps next time I do something like this, it could be a Ranger or Conquest arc...

Spoiler: Pokémon that were playable in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:

Main series playable Pokémon:

• Bulbasaur
• Charmander
• Squirtle
• Pikachu
• Vulpix
• Meowth
• Psyduck
• Machop
• Cubone
• Eevee
• Chikorita
• Cyndaquil
• Totodile
• Phanphy
• Treecko
• Torchic
• Mudkip
• Skitty
• Turtwig
• Chimchar
• Piplup
• Shinx
• Munchlax
• Riolu
• Snivy
• Tepig
• Oshawott
• Axew
• Chespin
• Fennekin
• Froakie

And for the odd person who knows about the obscure WiiWare titles...

• Growlithe
• Teddiursa
• Pichu
• Togepi
• Mareep
• Wooper
• Elekid
• Azurill
• Wynaut
• Buneary
• Pachirisu

That should be the full list.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

...I want to participate here but am very hesitant thanks to the epic story that is apparently going on here...
Could someone give me a brief summary of exactly what's been going on and what I should be doing?

 

[NMLewis]

A Chikorita randomly drops into a place near the village. Irrelevant to the Shiny Victini in all manners.
"OMG," says a voice. "It's another Chikorita!" The voice is revealed to be that of Meganium, from the Exploration Team "Chikawott."
"Why would it be in School Forest," says another voice. A Samurott comes sliding over. "There aren't usually Chikoritas here."
"Well there it is."
"Hmm. Okay. Well. Better help it. Good thing we randomly came here just to listen to the music that seems to permeate here."

Meganium and Samurott bring the Chikorita to Lively Town, where they meet up with Miltank, an integral part of their exploration team and also the milk delivery Pokemon of Lively Town.
"This Chikorita appeared in the School Forest," announces Meganium. "It doesn't seem to remember anything. A little like Samurott when he first appeared here."
"I see," replies Miltank. "Putting that to one side, have you heard anything of a Shiny Victini?"
"The only Victini I know of is the one who shouts "V-Wheeeeel" in the cafe."
"Hmm," Miltank looks away, "It's just I've heard some rumours."
"Rumours?" Samurott is intrigued.
"Of a Shiny Victini."
"Wat." Meganium looks at Miltank blankly.
"And someone looking for it."
"That's obv. ridiculous. The only alternate coloured Pokemon anyone's ever seen around here is Celebi. Oh, and Kecleon in another region."
"Well that's what I heard." Miltank closes her eyes.
"Mmmkay, well we're gonna go to the Expedition Society with this Chikorita and, well, sort some stuff out... Probs get him to join our team." Meganium turns to leave.
Miltank looks quizzically at them. "That seems a bit rash."
"We've recruited legends on a whim, sooo..." Meganium's eyes dart from side to side.
"Okay, well, carry on," Miltank says, moving towards a crate of Moomoo Milk bottles. "Also send Krookodile and Krokorok here if you see them. It's my belief that they're STILL in that cafe."
"Kay kay," comes Meganium's reply.
And so they go to the Expedition Society.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Screw it, I'll improv.

A Pokemon trainer just happened to be wandering beside his Lucario down the path beside a certain ranch where certain events involving a certain Victini were transpiring, though completely oblivious to the whole thing thanks to the headphones over both his ears.
"Live and learn... dah nuh, nuh nuh nuh, mah-buh-nuh nuh." He "sung" to himself as he walked down the road. He quickly became aware of what was happening however as mother-f*cking PALKIA suddenly emerged from a portal in the sky for (as far as he knew) absolutely no reason.
"What the hell!?" He shouted as he took the headphones off so they hung around his neck. He then became aware of the figures beneath Palkia, one of whom grabbed something from the arms of one of the others before dashing into a smaller portal, before the others quickly followed him.
"Wait a sec... Was that a shiny Victini!?" He asked his Lucario, who hadn't actually been paying attention himself really, too distracted by the chocolate bar in it's paws.
"Oh man you know we gotta catch that thing!" He shouted as he bolted towards and through the portal, his Lucario close behind.

***​

Very shortly, near the port of Lively Town, a sound could be heard, a sound that sounded rather like someone shouting: "FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!" The sound was abruptly cut of however, as the source landed face down in the grass. After a few moments, the source lifted his head up, and spay out a fairly generous amount of dirt.
"Ugh, where am I?" He wondered as he looked around. "Hey! Where's Lucario!?" He asked, somewhat panicky. He began to shout. "Lucario! Lucario!"
"Hey, kid" a Donphan said to him, "You don't get to shout out nothing but 'Lucario' until you evolve ok? So be quiet would ya?"
"Huh... buh... WHA!?" It took a moment for the full impact of the Pokemon's words to sink in. He dashed over to the water, and sure enough, his reflection was that of a young Riolu. He felt the little tuft of fur sticking up from his forehead with what now was a paw. Yep, definitely a Riolu...
He then turned around to see a giant pair of eyes staying at him.
"Hi." The owner of the eyes (who on closer inspection appeared to be a Charmander) said to him while raising it's claw.
"Uhh... Hi..." He responded.
"My name's Burse. What's yours?" The Charmander asked (it seemed to be male but then who could really tell?)
"Uh... Solo..." The now Riolu responded.
"You look upset, is something wrong?"
"Uhh, well, I came here following a shiny Victini with Lucario, but I guess we ended up getting separated."
"Wow! Really!?" Burse asked, eyes sparkling. "Oh, I know, let's look for them together, I'm an explorer you know." He said proudly.
"Uh sure, I guess..." Solo accepted "it's not like I had any other idea what to do here." He added under his breath.
"Ok, awesome! My explorer base is this way! Follow me!"
"Man I really should've stayed in bed today" Solo thought to himself as he walked alongside the fire Pokemon.

Woooow, I got carried away there.

 

[MegaPod]

Somewhere in a shady corner of a forest, a wispy spirit blows into the beaten body of a Braixen lying motionless. Bones crackle as the fox's body reanimates, inhabited by the new soul. Braixen gets up, joyously refamilarizing herself with her corporeal form. Then, her ears perk at the sound of a familiar voice ringing from far off.

Meanwhile, I tumble into a field with a yell. I pick myself up and spy the shiny Victini, not far from me. I sprint over to Victini, on all fours for some reason, until I realize that the Victini looks a lot bigger than I remembered. Victini turns around and goes, "Hey, who are you?"
Confused, I first reply, "You don't remember me?" As Victini just gapes, trying to think if he's missed something, I suddenly gasp. "You can talk?!"
"Um, yeah? You know us Pokémon talk to each other all the time, right?"
"Wh..." I stumble woozily.
"So where's all the people around here, anyways?" Victini ponders out loud. "Not that I mind a break from my eccentric travelling buddies..."
A passing Bronzor stares at me in my stupor, and calls, "Hey, what's with you? And what's a 'people'?"
I regain awareness and rush over to the stranger, looking at my reflection on his surface. "I... I'm a Fennekin!"
"Uh, yeah," the weirded out Bronzor replies. "Now, are you done making faces at me, little guy?" I stand, mouth agape, as Bronzor floats on.
Then, the bushes rustle, and a snout pops out from above my head. "Mega?"
I see who it is, and leap with ecstasy, shouting, "Braixen! Braixen, it's me! I'm so glad you're okay!"
Braixen looks down at me, visibly stunned by my new appearance as well. "It's...you??" Braixen and I hug, then she looks up and waves a paw. "Hey, Victini."
"Oh, hey, I remember you!" the shiny Victini responds. "Is this your little brother or something?"
I growl at the shiny Mythical, then tug him by the wing with my mouth. "C'mon," I mumble, "you're coming with us!"
"Uh, okay... I'm used to it." The Victini shrugs as he's dragged away once again, Braixen and I intent on finding out just where we are.

 

[Max1996]

As he went through the portal, Max blacked out. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a forest.
"Ngh, where am I...?" he muttered, as he looked around, noticing the trees are rather large. As he puts one of his hands on the ground to get up, he notices it's different from before, now being white with three fingers.
Startled, he quickly moves to a nearby pond and looks at the surface of the water, finding a Froakie staring back at him.
"What is going on here!?" he muttered, before overhearing two more voices.
"C'mon, you're coming with us!"
"Uh, okay... I'm used to it."
When he spots the Victini, he closes his eyes and focuses his energy to go to his hands, until a large sphere of water appeared, Firing the Water Pulse at the Braixen, he quickly threw frubbles at the Fennekin's eyes, before running off with the Victini.

Spoiler: Something I'm curious about.

I know pretty much nothing about the MD series. Did the player character ever evolve in the games?

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Meanwhile, Solo and Burse had just arrived at Burse's "Explorer's Base", which was in fact just a little fort in some bushes hidden away behind the Expedition Society.
"Ta-dah!" Burse said, gesturing to the little structure. "Do you like it?"
Solo was lost for words, he was expecting some kind of actual, real explorer base. Eventually he managed to get out:
"What the hell is this!?" He shouted, "I was expecting some kind of real base! I mean you're not even a real explorer are you?"
Burse just sat there, tears forming in his giant eyes.
"Uhh... I-I'm sorry ok?" Solo stuttered, trying anything to stop the kid from bawling his eyes out. "I mean, it's a really nice base, really."
"*sniff* You-you mean it?"
"Yeah, I-I really like how... how the roof slants like that." He said gesturing to the roof on a full 30° angle. Honestly how it hadn't come down and crushed the kid yet was anyone's guess.
"Oh... Ok. Well then let's go exploring and looking for your Victini and Lucario friends!" Burse exclaimed as he ducked into the fort and grabbed a bag filled with snacks and other assorted bits and pieces.
"Yeah! Let's go! The fire lizard Pokemon shouted as they head off into a certain forest in the outskirts of town.

Spoiler: Something I'm curious about.

I know pretty much nothing about the MD series. Did the player character ever evolve in the games?

Yes, but never until the post game. (SMD is a weird case, since they leap straight to their final forms a couple of times during the game, but that's a special, slightly spoilery case)

 

[Chidamari Sketch]

Staring at the increasingly large pink gap that is nearly eating up the environment, the plumber then decided to leap into the portal without any second thoughts. The dentist then followed while shouting "OI! WAIT!" The picnicker then proceeded to enter the portal as well whilst giggling."Wh-wh-wh-what about us?!" cried one of the gang members. Just as the gang was about to jump in as well, the portal then shut off, leaving the gang all alone without their leaders. "Goddamnit!! What's gonna happen to us without our boss?!" The gang then noticed yet another portal; one that is significantly different than the other...

---

The plumber, the dentist, and the picnicker all woke up at the same forest. The first one to woke up was the plumber. He wakes up to see an unconscious Cubone and Axew. "Heh, Free Pokeeeeeee.......WHAT THE FUCK?!" The plumber then realized that not only did he suddenly grew spikes all over his head, but his fingers and toes are deformed to the point that he has no fingers or toes, and his fat, almost-neckless body has somehow grown an eggshell to protect his fat body; in other words, he became a Togepi. He looked up at the sky in both confusion and anger as he yells "DID YOU DO THIS, YOU FUCKING VOICE?! GO TO HELL YOU FUCKING INVISIBLE ASPECT OF NYARLATHOTEP!!! The loud growls of anger woke up the Cubone and Axew. ".....Is that you? Why did you suddenly become a balut?" asked the Axew who used to be a dentist, "......and since when did I become so scaly and had my teeth conjoined together?" "......It was the voice alright. That fucker tried to ask me personal questions, then it began spouting weird bullshit like 'What do you do when you see a hand come out of a toilet' Gee I dunno, shoot the living shit out of it?" The picnicker who became a Cubone quickly caught on to the apparent scenario and began giggling once again as she gazes at her new bone and began hitting random Pokemon that were minding their own business. Immediately afterwards, however, a giant Tyranitar suddenly appeared, presumably attracted by the plumber's loud yelling or the fainted cries of Pokemon. The picnicker had little time to react until the angry saurian punched her in the head. It was strong enough to knock the reptilian child unconscious. "Oh shit! Grab her and run the fuck outta before shit gets loose!" The dentist then grabbed the picnicker and ran off along with the eggy plumber.

 

[NMLewis]

As Meganium and Samurott approach the Expedition Society with Chikorita lying on Meganium's back, Meganium can't help but notice a makeshift building in the bushes behind the large building. "OMG. Did someone build a base just outside of the HQ. Why would they do that. Don't they have a room in the Expedition Society? LOL."
"Meganium..." Samurott warns.
"I'm just saying is all."
"I... don't know... what's happening," announces Chikorita.
"Yeah, you've mentioned that." Meganium seems to have lost some patience along the way.
"I got taken into this portal, and..."
"You're here now, YUP."

As the group enter the Expedition Society, however, they find it completely empty.
"Oh.......... Ohhhh...." Meganium looks this way and that. "That's a bit weird."
"Is Swirlix here?" Samurott looks through the kitchen doorway. "Hmm, no..."
Meganium suddenly charges upstairs. And then back downstairs. All the while with Chikorita bouncing around on her back.
"Even that next-to-useless Jirachi is missing!"
Samurott looks into the middle distance dramatically. ".... This is a bit concerning, then."

 

[MegaPod]

I flail my front paws, trying to wipe the frubbles off of my eyes. A drenched Braixen shakes water out of her ears before getting up and helping me peel off the goop. We try to follow the Froakie who attacked us, but lose sight of him. We end up in what appears to be some sort of village.

Max the Froakie has hidden himself and the shiny Victini among some high up branches, some of which a Pokémon holding a long stick suddenly knocks loose. "H-hey, excuse me!" calls the Pokémon. "Have either of you seen a Braixen?"

Braixen and I have been asking around the village. "None of them know where the Victini is," I sigh.
"What about getting a way home?" Braixen asks me.
"Not without the shiny Victini," I assert. "Besides, this place isn't so bad. The Pokémon are all nice here. It's even called 'Serene Village!'"
"Well, maybe it looks that way, Mega," Braixen replies with concern, "but when I found this body, I could tell it wasn't exactly given up willingly. There's still hearts full of darkness here, somewhere." After a long pause of silently walking, Braixen adds, "But I admit, as long as we're here, we can be closer to the equal partnership I wanted between us than any time when you were a person!" I remain awkwardly silent, continuing to trot along with my four little paws.
The silence is once more broken, however, when a frantic, bespectacled Delphox pushes his way past several Pokémon, including a Pikachu apparently about to exit the village. Panting heavily, he calls out in our direction. "R-Rachel! Rachel, thank goodness! I thought I'd lost you for good! My sweet daughter!" The middle-aged fox stops directly in front of us. Apparently referring to Braixen, he says, "Please come home, darling. You had me worried sick."
"Um..." before Braixen can utter more than this, the Delphox turns and struts off while using his stick like a cane, obviously expecting Braixen to follow him, which is exactly what the two of us decide to do.

Inside the Delphox's dwelling, he peers closely at me. "So this is the boy you were going to run off with, Rachel?" he finally asks Braixen. "I mean, he looks a bit under-evolved for his age." His remark is met with a scowl from me, upon seeing which he abruptly apologizes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've been known to say things I shouldn't..."
"Ok, first of all," Braixen says, "seriously, don't even go there. Ew. And, second of all," she says with a reluctant sigh, "I'm...not your daughter."
Delphox's expression changes to that of confusion. "But...what? Sweetie, don't be silly, it's you!"
"There's really no easy way to say this..." Braixen says.
Feeling uncomfortable being around for the conversation, I have curled up on the carpet in the hall. I stand up on my hind legs to peek through a window into the room where Braixen and the Delphox sit. I see the old Delphox's silhouette slump down, holding his head in his hands, as I hear him faintly sobbing. I curl back up into a ball, feeling empathetically sick.
Braixen finally steps out into the hall, shutting the door quietly behind her. "Poor guy. It makes me feel terrible walking around in his daughter's body. But he had to know the truth." We step outside to see the sun beginning to set. "Oh, MegaPod? That guy did mention where a certain Froakie and shiny Victini might still be. Wanna go, before it gets dark?"
"Okay!" I say, speaking for the first time since running into the Delphox. We set off in the direction of the forest in which Braixen first landed as a spirit.

 

[Chidamari Sketch]

After recovering through a Reviver Seed that one of the two uncles miraculously tripped on, the picnicker followed her two uncles as they search around the forest. They then found themselves in a strange area vaguely resembling a place one would keep a stash. Seeing a presumed digging spot, the three dug out whatever's in the pile to find a lot of gold bars in a hole as well as a truckload of Poke and other bags. The three former humans had a look of utter glee as they gaze upon this loot, until an angry Gabite came roaring at the trio for pilfering his stash. The Gabite then shot out a flurry of Dragon Pulses onto the plumber, and in fright, the plumber ends up firing a Mirror Move out of instinct. The Mirror Move ended up reflecting the Pulses back to the Gabite, assaulting her until she fell unconscious. "......Holy shit. I actually did that?" muttered the astonished plumber. Using a random rice bag they found on the grass, they snatched up all of the loot. Finding a Deposit Box, the trio felt a feeling of reassurance and dumped their findings in the Deposit Box for later. After wandering around the forest, the trio then spot a Froakie hugging a Victini while hidden in a tree. The picnicker then thought of something, then she began beating her torso while making a blood-curling screech. She ended up feeling a large amount of strength in her muscles at the cost of feeling rather hungry, and she then used her bone like a boomerang to hit the Froakie. Max was OHKO'ed by this attack and he fell out of the tree in pain, which ended up giving him even more pain as he landed on the solid ground. The picnicker then did the same for the Victini, knocking them unconscious as well. After the picnicker ate a few apples, the trio then kidnapped the unconscious Mythical and ran off somewhere deep within the forest

(Note: In the Mystery Dungeon series, a lot of moves have been modified in a lot of ways. Mirror Move for example is now a version of Protect that not only rebounds attacks onto foes, but it also lasts longer; up to a potential 5 turns. ...You can guess just how overpowered Mirror Move is in the PMD series. Meanwhile, Belly Drum maximizes Attack once again, but this time the user's Belly is reduced to 1 instead of having their HP set to 50%.)

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Meanwhile, Solo and Burse were walking through the forest (having moved quite some way from Lively Town already in fact), apparently having gone through a somewhat harrowing experience, considering the former's fur was rather disheveled and slightly burnt in places.
"Oh God I think I can still feel those Weedles crawling all over me." He said, with a tortured look in his eyes. "I had no idea they went for the eyes so much..."
"Aww, hey, it's ok, I got rid of them for you." Burse said in a soothing tone.
"YOU BREATHED FIRE ON ME!" Solo exclaimed.
"Yeah, and it got rid of them." Burse explained, apparently not setting what the big deal was. "And we put you out remember?"
"I still can't believe eating that berry worked..." Solo muttered.
It was at this point that a blur of colours vaguely resembling a trio of Cubone, Axew and Togepi carrying something between them.
"... The hell was that!?" Solo cried out.
"I dunno. It looked like some kind of 3 headed monster carrying a giant 'V'."
Solo just looked a Burse for a moment, wondering just how he'd decided that one. And then it hit him.
"Wait a giant V!?"
Burse nodded.
"They had the Victini!" He shouted as he turned to run off after them. Solo caught up with them before long, it wasn't easy to run while carrying a Pokemon ad big as you are after all. Add he got closer, he sprinted the last several feet in a Quick Attack he wasn't sure how he'd performed, slamming into the picknicker Cubone, throwing her to the ground and throwing the others off balance, resulting in the still unconscious Victini falling face first onto the ground.
"Oh geez sorry are you ok?" He asked the Victini. When it didn't answer he instead turned to the trio of Pokemon.
"Hey what's the big idea? Why are you carrying this Victini around!?" He shouted at them.

 

[MegaPod]

Braixen and I, having arrived at Max's hiding place just in time to see the trio of Pokémon kidnapping the shiny Victini, sneak after the Cubone, Axew, and Togepi through the trees. Braixen stops to tell me that she recognizes this part of the forest, and that she knows a good shortcut to take to intercept the group. However, in taking this shortcut, we come within range of some unfamiliar voices. "...didn't say you guys could do that. Well, where'd you get rid of the body?" we faintly heard one saying. Braixen's curiosity piqued, she strays off the path to peek into the area where she first arrived in this world. I follow her, and from our hiding spot behind a tree, we see a male Braixen, talking to a Diggersby and Dewott.
"I...didn't?" the Diggersby said to the male Braixen.
Fumbling with the toothpick he had in his mouth, the male Braixen glares at the overgrown rabbit. "You what?! Well, where is it?"
"It was here by the water, Mike," the Dewott interjects.
"Gee, thanks," mutters the Braixen sarcastically. "I suppose it just got up and walked away, huh?" Then, Mike's ears perk at the sound of twigs crunching. He and his companions turn and see Braixen eavesdropping. Mike approaches, the other two following suit. "Rachel? Is that you?" he says with a chuckle, "did ya...have fun with my buddies this evening? I told you how, uh, wild they can get sometimes, didn't I?"
Braixen steps back, replying nervously, "Um, I don't actually know who you boys are." Mike and his pals exchange skeptical glances as she continues. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else, so, I'm gonna just go, 'kay?"
Mike suddenly seizes Braixen's left paw forcefully. "C'mon, Rache, don't go! We know it's you." Straining to break free, Braixen tries to grab her stick with her other paw, but the Diggersby uses his ear to grab it first and snap it in half, then push Braixen. "You're comin' with us," Mike says as he tugs Braixen's arm, "and you're gonna like-OWWWW!" Having managed to go unnoticed, I chomp Mike's ankle fiercely. Braixen and I both run for it. "Get them!" Mike growls to his cronies. Diggersby and Dewott chase me and Braixen, firing Mud Shots and Water Pulses our way. Braixen turns and breathes a Flamethrower off to the side.
"Hah, you missed!" blurts the Diggersby.
"Oh, fu-" shouts the Dewott as a huge dead tree topples, crushing him and the Diggersby. Mike hurdles over the trunk, still in pursuit of us.
Finally catching up to us, Mike stomps our way, spitting "You're not telling anyone anything, or else I'm gonna..." Braixen calmly clears her throat and points to the group of onlookers we have run into, including the three Pokémon who had taken the shiny Victini last. Flustered, Mike makes a run for it, accidentally poking his own eye on a branch as he does.
Braixen chuckles, snapping the branch off of its tree. "I think I like this one!" She slips it into her tail before she and I turn to look again at the other Pokémon.
I meet eyes with the Togepi, suddenly thinking I know who it is, then face the Riolu and speak. "Did you, uh, save our friend?" I ask, indicating the shiny Victini. "I'll just, uh, be taking him from here now, thanks!" I begin to drag the unconscious shiny away by the ear.