Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Explorers of Truth & Ideals

Welcome back to the Pokemon World! Yet again, we return to the Pokemon world, where Pokemon run free and exist in harmony. Here, Pokemon work independantly of human company. Since the last time, Wigglytuff's guild has opened up branches everywhere, so that rescue teams can come to the aid of misfortunate travellers.

Our adventure begins in the beautiful mountain getaway of Discovery Square. Just on the outskirts of this is the newly built guild, hoping to bring security and prosperity to this sleepy town. But trouble is rarely far in this world, but neither is adventure.

One Pokemon, whom the player chooses, is feeling out of place. All of their friends have moved on, either becoming adventurers or guild members. Mustering the courage to go into the guild and sign up, the Pokemon friend quickly turns back, as guild rules insist at least two are needed to sign up first off.

When wandering around the outskirts, the Pokemon finds someone lying supposedly unconscious. On closer inspection, the Pokemon appears fatigued from a hard travel. When they finally come to, they ask where they are. The partner confirms to them where they are and remarks that they don't see many of their kind of Pokemon around. The hero is now confused, and swears that they are not a Pokemon, but a human. Even worse is, when they try to remember something about their humanity, they find they cannot.

As the twosome discuss the situation a Braviary/Mandibuzz flies onto the scene, enraged and worried about the loss of their young. Startled by the flying Pokemon, the twosome run into their first dungeon. After passing through the dungeon into the deepest part, they find Rufflet/Vullaby who has gone missing and can't find their parent. The twosome rescue the young Pokemon and return it to its parent who thanks them both for finding it.

The partner then comes up with an idea. Since the two of them did so well in the dungeon, they should become an exploration team at the guild. There are two of them and rules state at least two are needed. Since the hero has nothing else they can do, the duo sign up.

And our story begins...

The player can choose their Pokemon from the beginning of the game. The Pokemon chosen will match the player's personality as decided by a short quiz. Some of the Pokemon from previous editions will return including;

• Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Treecko and Turtwig
  
• Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic and Chimchar
  
• Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip and Piplup
  
• Pikachu, Meowth, Riolu and Munchlax
  

In addition to these returning characters are the following from the Black and White games;

• Snivy
  
• Tepig
  
• Oshawott
  
• Lillipup
  
• Blitzle
  
• Scraggy
  
• Yamask
  
• Zorua
  
• Deerling
  
• Litwick
  
• and Axew
  

The player can choose their partner after their Pokemon is chosen. However, some Pokemon cannot be chosen to work together, notably the following;

• Starter Pokemon of the same type cannot work together (for example, Tepig cannot work with Chimchar).
  
• Riolu and Munchlax cannot work together.
  
• Pikachu and Meowth cannot work together.
  
• Blitzle cannot work with Deerling.
  
• Scraggy cannot work with Zorua.
  
• Litwick cannot work with Yamask.
  
• Lillipup cannot work with Axew.
  

As always, in the pre-credit story, the main character is fixed and will always go into a dungeon with the partner until the twosome graduate from the guild.

Discovery Square is the centre of the Pokemon outpost, and is usually bustling with activity. A few Pokemon own stalls and businesses that will help the player on their journey. Here are a few;

• Kangaskhan - Kangaskhan runs the storage in town. She will look after a player's items and treasure in much the same way she has done previously. Nothing gets past her when it comes to protecting goods.
  
• Cofagrigus - With his love of gold, Cofagrigus will hoard your money and protect it, like a bank.
  
• The Oni Brothers - Two very skilled fighters, Sawk and Throh. Born together, raised together, trained together, founded a business together, work together but simply can't stand each other. Throh runs the dojo and believes that experience comes through training in dungeons and fancy moves and tonics are useless if you don't know how to use them properly. Sawk, however, believes that one should always prepare themselves, and simply running head first into a dungeon without being prepared with some effective moves and boosters is poor form. Throh will show you through specially made dungeons whilst Sawk can help you relearn moves, link moves and in due time teach you a variety of moves not normally learnt by levelling up or with TMs.
  
• Gothitelle - Gothitelle reprises the role which Xatu had done previously. She'll give appraisals and open boxes that can be found in dungeons that can contain interesting goods.
  
• Snackstop - The Snack Stop is run by Pansage, Pansear and Panpour; a real monkey business. It operates in a similar function to Spinda's cafe in the sense that players can have smoothies and cocktails made to boost stats and increase IQ or take part in the prize draws and can often find missions here that some of the customers have.
  
• Sky Chariots - Braviary/Mandibuzz run a business called Sky Chariots. Here, flying type Pokemon can offer rides to Pokemon to allow them access to certain locations around Pokemon Peak. At first, this isn't open as Braviary/Mandibuzz has to look after Rufflet/Vullaby for a while until they can look after themselves.
  
• Trubbish's swap shop - Sometimes dungeons can have unexpected surprises; but when you don't find anything that good, you could always see Trubbish. What he'll do is take items you don't want and can offer you better items for a trade in.
  
• Kecleon's shop - Kecleon return to run their shop. Here, you can buy all kinds of basic items.
  

For a quick, abbridged version of events, check the next post.

In a near future, the Pokemon world has become bleak and drab. There is so little life and energy left in the world. Humans and Pokemon are separate and isolate of eachother, and people live in fear. This is a world in which Team Plasma suceeded. The hero that tried to call forth Reshiram/Zekrom to fight N in the final battle was killed by Ghetsis shortly after the birth of this new world, when Reshiram/Zekrom failed to heed the call of a hero.

However, all is not lost. Due to the events of the past catching up to this time, the worlds are beginning to collide, allowing a solution to be designed. Victini discovers that its power can be used to secure victory for truth or ideals in the past, but has to send someone in their place. A Pokemon by the name of Mienshao steps forward for the mission of travelling to the recent past, to awaken Reshiram/Zekrom to heed the calling of a hero and stop Team Plasma.

The mission is offered on one condition, that Mienshao completes this mission with a partner. Mienshao agrees to the terms and Victini states that this partner will be very important, and that they'll already have known them a long time. This partner will be waiting for him in the recent past, and will be destined for great things.


~

In the past, the player and their friend sucessfully becomes members of Wigglytuff's Guild and begin completing missions and making a name for themselves. Their discoveries lead to one important, a key of unity, protected by the legendary Pokemon, Cobalion. A few days after said mission, Cobalion was defeated and the key taken. The thief left behind a message.

"I take this key, knowing what it means by taking it. Believe me, the punishment for theft is far worse than what would happen if left behind."

Within a short period of time, more of the keys are taken, and Mienshao is identified as the thief. Stepping forward to collect the bounty is a lone Pokemon called Bisharp, who knows a lot about Mienshao and what his mission is.

~

The duo and Bisharp capture Mienshao and Bisharp prepares for the execution, despite protests not to. When asked why, Bisharp refuses to explain and instead orders the Pawniard at his command to restrain the duo and Mienshao as they all disappear.

It is revealed that Bisharp is from this dark world as well and wishes to keep the world as it is, stating that this world comes about from the call of a would-be hero being unanswered and that without humans harming Pokemon, it is better off. Bisharp took the duo as well to be executed also, for they now know too much.

Just as hope seems lost, Victini emerges and uses its psychic to create a distraction and rescue Mienshao and the duo. Victini then remarks at how Mienshao found his partnet so quickly and says that they most move if they are to resume the mission again. They proceed to the Forbidden Castle, a place where the universe is slightly in flux, and thus is the best path back to the recent past. Before proceeding, Meinshao asks why Victini chose the player to be Mienshao's partner; neither have them have met before.

Victini then explains the truth. The player and Mienshao have met before. Mienshao and the player have been allies for a very long time, however Mienshao says the only partner he ever had was a human trainer. Victini then reveals that the player was in fact the hero who was to battle N, but lost and was killed by Ghetsis. Victini thought it most apt that the hero who was pure of soul and free of evil was to be given the second chance to save the world as a Pokemon. Mienshao could not possibly do it alone, the only bond he shared was with his human trainer, the hero, who was killed. Now together again, they would be able to save the world.

~

Returning home, the duo and Mienshao proceed to collec the unity keys to unlock the path to the Unity Tower. Waiting there already was Bisharp, allied with the notorious Moxie Squad, seeing as how both were like minded. Whilst the Moxie Squad say that their hatred of humans was because they were abused, Bisharp has different ideals. He states that he doesn't want Pokemon separated from humans for their safety, it is so that none will ever challenge his master, Ghetsis and Ghetsis can rule the world as his own.

After engaging in combat, Bisharp comes across a revelation in a last moment bid to stop the player and Mienshao. If the player awakens Reshiram/Zekrom, the hero's call would be heeded, the hero wouldn't have died and the player wouldn't have been reborn as a Pokemon. Whilst the loss of one life to save the world would make sense, the player has touched the hearts of so many, most notably the partner. To disappear would be heartbreaking and there is no possible chance of returning.

Mienshao decides to stay behind and keep Bisharp under control. The decisionof whether to live or die is up to the player alone now.

~

As the player and the partner defeat Reshiram/Zekrom, they urge it to answer a hero's call. The legendary Pokemon decides that now is the time to return. With the legendary Pokemon now at the hero's side to save the world, the bleak world begins to disappear. With the hero now still alive, the player now begins to vanish.

Some weeks later, life goes on and the partner is still upset by the loss of the player. Victini and Mienshao meet again and Victini comes up with a plan. Victini turns to an old friend, Musharna and asks a small favour. Since the player was made of the hero's soul, the partner could be remade from the dreams of the hero made flesh.

To cut a long story short, the player reincarnated from a human, the trainer from Pokemon Black and White who was supposed to be the hero, but perished in the event of Team Plasma suceeding.

As the player and their partner suceed into awakening Reshiram/Zekrom, the human hero suceeds, so the reincarnation will cease to exist. It is returned when Victini recreates the player through the hero's dreams.

Mienshao was a partner to the hero at one stage and made it their duty to prevent Team Plasma from suceeding, whilst Bisharp was one of Ghetsis' henchmen, still under instruction as one of the last controlled Pokemon, whose duty was to kill Mienshao to make sure Team Plasma suceed.

The Oni Brothers Throh and Sawk can stand one another, but they're not important.

Still nothing?

After graduating from the guild, the player can unlock the special chapter of "Bisharp's Last Stand".

The player and the partner set off for Unity Tower, but Bisharp denies defeat and drags Mienshao back to the bleak future, now starting to decay as the events unfold. Mienshao and Bisharp fight eachother where they landed and Bisharp is thrown into a rock face and buried under fallen rubble. Mienshao decides to find Victini, just to be certain that the player and the partner will suceed.

Exploring through the ruins, Mienshao discovers a Zoroark, who asks if Mienshao has done the duty yet. Confirming that he has done his job and the player will do the rest, Mienshao and Zoroark join forces to continue looking for Victini, not realising a Sandile has been following them.

After searching through all the previous locations Victini was known to hand around at, Mienshao and Zoroark are attacked by the Moxie Squad. Scrafty, once defeated, tells them that Bisharp promised them power, despite Bisharp being supposedly killed by rubble. They lead the twosome to the very south, where Victini has reported meditating.

Being led to the Frozen Clearing, Victini is trapped in the ice. Despite breaking the ice apart, Victini is still trapped in dark power. Victini warns Mienshao to run, but Scrafty, now fully healed, immobilizes Mienshao with a hard headbutt. Coming to, Mienshao discovers himself trapped against a frozen pillar and Zoroark is nowhere to be seen. Scrafty calls out to someone saying the job has been done and that he is expecting payment.

A familiar voice calls out to Scrafty, telling the hoodlum to clear out, unless he wants to see what happens to those who step out of line. Walking out from the shadows is Bisharp, sharpening his blades and ready to cut apart Mienshao, partly because he crossed his path all too often, but mostly because he genuinely hates every fibre of Mienshao's being and would like to see him dead.

As Bisharp is about to land the blade, someone stops him. It is what appears to be another Bisharp. He commands the other Bisharp to stop and claim he's the real one and that this should stop once and for all. However, the Bisharp lands a cut across the back of this newcomer, revealing it to be Zoroark, and he's not alone. Zoroark has brought with him Klinklang, Vanilluxe, Carracosta and Archeops. Zoroark admits now that he and his allies are all Pokemon belonging to N, and they want to see this bloodied rule of the Pokemon world come to an end from Bisharp.

Bisharp, cooly and calmly, refuses to back down and calls forth his allies, Cofagrigus, Eelektross, Boufallant, Seismitoad and Hydreigon and battle ensues. As the conclusion draws near, Bisharp's team are defeated, but still he refuses to be beaten. Mienshao asks why Bisharp wants this world to be like this and Bisharp states that his duty is to always be on Ghetsis' side, he wants nothing more than dominion over Pokemon, in much the same way Ghetsis wants dominion over human kind and he will go to great lengths to achieve that. He would always be by Ghetsis' side no matter what, and this is how he chooses to show his loyalty.

However, Victini, finally breaking free of the dark force field reveals something to Bisharp. Ghetsis never had feelings for Bisharp. Bisharp denies this and states that he can prove Ghetsis cared for him, by revealing the Space Globe, an item of incredible power. The Globe had the essence of the original one, and in turn possesses the power of those that were bore from it. Ghetsis wouldn't have passed on this Globe to someone he didn't express feelings for.

It is through the Space Globe that Bisharp would take control of a place called the Oblivion Rift, and command it to travel through time to kill the player and the partner before they reach the tower's peak. As he reveals his plot, something unusual happens. A bright glow comes from the sky. Not sunlight, but genuinely coloured light. The world has started to become less bleak and power is returning to it. The player and the partner have succeeded.

Still refusing to concede, Bisharp admits he'll carry on and make haste to the Oblivion Rift. But Victini reveals more of the truth. When Ghetsis is defeated, he'll be arrested and his Pokemon taken away, including Bisharp. Even when Ghetsis escapes, he'll abandon them all. Now striking a nerve within Bisharp, he uses the power of the Globe to try and kill Victini, to shut him up and command him to change this and to tell the truth. Ghetsis' Pokemon now all become desparate and try to stop Bisharp, only for him to use the Globe to destroy each one of them and storing their souls in the Globe to make him more powerful, declaring that he is truly the only one special to Ghetsis, no one else.

Bisharp, now no longer listening to reason reveals his true colours. Victini and Mienshao now sense it more than ever and so do the other Pokemon. Bisharp's heart was closed long ago and he only has darkness within him. He uses the Space Globe, now charged to blow apart N's Pokemon and Mienshao as he proceeds to the Oblivion Point. Victini goes over to Mienshao to see if he is alrigh. Mienshao is all right, but only because Zoroark protected him again, but now Zoroark can do no more and urges them to follow Bisharp, it's the only way to stop him.

They close in on Oblivion Point, where Bisharp has already opened the hole within the planet and prepares to travel back in time, not to stop the player and unity tower, but to kill the hero and Mienshao by himself in the human world. Even with the powerful Reshiram/Zekrom in combat, with the hero dead, it is as good as not being summoned at all. Mienshao and Victini challenge Bisharp to one last show down, knowing that in possessing the Space Globe containing the souls of his companions, he will be impressively powerful.

Either through fool's luck or genuine strength, Bisharp is defeated. As he tries to use the Space Globe for one last finale, Victini knocks it out of his hands whilst Mienshao shatters it. In shattering the globe, the platform Bisharp is standing on is breaking apart and threatens to fall into the Oblivion Rift. Indeed the platform breaks away and Bisharp holds on with the remaining of his dwindling strength. The edge crumbles away and Bisharps falls into the vortex of Oblivion, to his death. As he realises he's finished he mutters;

"Ghetsis... Have mercy on me..."

A single tear streaks from his eye and he falls silently into the abyss. The world now fully returns to as it should be and Victini and Mienshao begin to disappear. They say to eachother, "Let us meet again next time, when the world is as it should be".

FIN

Hai.

Yamask has just joined the guild. Feeling insecure and alone, he is offered his first mission. His mission is very simple, recover a lost Metal Coat for a Giaru. Although enthusiastic to prove his worth with a genuine rescue mission, Yamask was told to do this task first, the best has to come later.

The notice board flips over and whilst no one is looking, Yamask takes a quick look and find a rather tattered SOS hidden right at the back, shrouded amongst other missions. Despite trying to bring to the attention of others, no one else is around or available to answer the call, so Yamask discreetly removes it. He reads the message;

"Help me! I'm not sure how long I can last in here. I've broken a limb and a partial collapse of the cave has trapped me and I took a knock to the head, so I can't find the focus to move the collapse on my own. The ghost types are getting hungry!

-Elgyem"

Yamask then decides to answer this call for help, knowing his ghost-type can give him the advantage he needs to clear the path to help Elgyem. Although reluctant to give up the task set to him already, he decides this mission seems more urgent.

Little to his knowledge, another Pokemon has been watching, Dwebble. At the entrance to the cave, Dwebble offers his assistance, as two heads are better than one in a mission like this. They proceed through the Caves of Memories, holding off the ghosts for as long as they can. However, at the mid point of the cave, Dwebble goes on a scout to make sure the coast is clear for them to proceed, and doesn't return.

Unphased, Yamask carries on, for his duty to save Elgyem grows more pressing. At the very pit of the cave, Yamask happens upon the collapse. Calling for Elgyem to see if the Pokemon is okay, he hears no reply, fearing the worst. At which stage, Dwebble appears and Yamask offers for his help, but Dwebble will not assist. Instead, Dwebble knows that Yamask tossed aside his assigned mission for this one and threatens to tell the guild, which would cause Yamask to be expelled. Yamask challenges Dwebble, telling him that he will not go down so lightly, but Dwebble has brought with him some friends found within the caves of memories, some Woobat and Gothita.

The fight is harsh and once Dwebble is defeated, Woobat and Gothita flee to avoid further conflict and Yamask forces the collapse away as best as he can. He finds Elgyem, but it might already be too late. Elgyem is unconscious, his wounds harsh and he is barely breathing. Yamask urges Dwebble to help them both out, as clearing the collapse has weakened the remainder of the chamber. Dwebble, reluctantly helps.

Upon return to the guild, the guild director is waiting for Yamask, with him being the last to report back in. Yamask carries with him Elgyem and Dwebble tells on him, stating that Yamask tried to hurt Dwebble for simply to trying to his mission and for Yamask not going on his assigned mission, to which the Guild director is very disappointed.

Yamask, adamant he did the right thing, lays Elgyem down in his quarters and the others tend to his wounds. The guild director calls Yamask forward for a quick chat, but Yamask is not ashamed of what he has done, in his mind, he did the right thing.

The guild director wishes to expell Yamask for direct defiance of guild rules. Yamask now goes to explain his reason for doing what he did;

"Long ago, I once knew a young child, a human child. His best friend was a Lillipup and they had the greatest adventures together. But one day, the human child had ventured to somewhere not visited for a long time and had an accident, and was trapped. Lillipup sent for help as fast as it could, but by the time help has arrived, it was too late. The poor child had perished, awaiting rescue. The Lillipup held itself in contempt, blaming itself for the death of its best friend.

I must disclose this, that child, was no one more than me."

Shocked by this, the guild director tries to throw this thought aside, claiming Yamask is making it up. However, someone calls out that they believe Yamask. Elgyem, now having gathered enough strength to speak, tells the Guild director that Yamask speaks the truth. Yamask does indeed have memories of being human and having perished alone and in fear.

Yamask now states that he joined the rescue team, so that he could commit his very best, so that no one else would ever suffer the same fate again, so that no more can perish awaiting help and friends will no longer lose their loved ones. Seeing how Elgyem's request had almost been lost, he felt duty bound to save him and his actions had saved a life.

The guild director decides that Yamask can stay and in fact should be rewarded. Elgyem offers Yamask something small as a reward, a small charm that allows him to see how his former friend, Lillipup is still doing, and says that he will pass on the message that his friend is still there and thanks him for trying, even though he failed.