#Enter: Mila and Terapagos

[dbcoatl-art]

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hunters of Ruination

Prologue [3 Pages]

A human finds herself in a dark, cold place. Not long after, a mysterious Pokémon appears, offering her a chance to escape. Will the human accept the offer...and what lies in wait for her outside this dark realm?

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Cold.

That was all she felt…all she could feel, despite the lack of wind rushing by.

She shifted her body, trying to get just a bit of warmth, only to be met with something hard and glassy.

Her eyes sprang open, and she was immediately met with an unnatural sky of dark blues and purples. She slowly sat up and discovered that she was on some kind of crystalline platform. Dark-coloured crystals surrounded her, some containing figures she could barely recognize, others completely empty. More of them surrounded her, floating in crystalline clusters. Directly above her, a massive black vortex slowly swirled, yet she thought she could see a glimpse of a tiny, gold object – an Egg, perhaps?

Swallowing the rising bile in her throat, she lowered her head and looked down at the platform, hoping that nothing had happened to her. Thankfully, the crystal platform was still clear enough that she could see her own reflection: blue eyes, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, leaving two thick strands sticking out. A pair of hands with five fingers each. Yep, that all checked out.

Before she could figure out what to do, she noticed a flash of light suddenly appear from the corner of her reflection, only for it to disappear a split second later. She whirled around to find a small Pokémon floating in front of her. It looked like a small, dark blue turtle, almost reminiscent of a Squirtle, but its shell was made of crystal, and it had what looked like three crystal strands flowing from the top and sides of its head. Five blue bands encircled its legs and neck while it stared at the girl with star-pupiled blue eyes.

The turtle Pokémon studied her for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good,” they spoke. “Looks like I arrived just in time.”

The girl was taken aback. Who was this strange creature, and what did they mean by arriving just in time?

The turtle looked at her again, this time with saddened eyes. “You shouldn’t be here, you know,” they told her. “It would be bad if you ended up…well, like all those who came before you.” They motioned with their star-tipped tail at the cluster of crystals.

The girl gasped in horror when the tail shone its light upon one of the crystals. Now that she had a clearer view of what she was looking at, she noticed that there was a human inside, wearing an anguished expression that would be permanently frozen in time. She also noticed that there were other humans and even Pokémon inside the crystals, their faces sporting mixed expressions of terror and agony.

“Wh-what is this place?” she asked once she finally found her voice.

The turtle Pokémon shook their head. “Like I told you, somewhere you shouldn’t be,” they said. “Fortunately, I know of a way to get you out of here.” They floated closer to the girl, their expression a bit more serious. “But I need you to trust me.”

“T-trust you? Why?” None of this was making any sense. What would she gain from trusting this strange Pokémon – and one that could clearly speak, she only now realized – when they could potentially be tricking her?

“Because I’m the only one who knows how to get you out,” the turtle insisted. “And get you somewhere else, where you’ll be much safer.”

The girl hesitated. As much as she wanted to escape, she still wasn’t sure whether she wanted to follow the turtle’s instructions. There was still so much she didn’t know about this strange place, and so much she wanted to know. Yet, she knew that this strange Pokémon had a point – if she didn’t get out of here, who knows what could happen?

She took a deep breath and held out her hand. “Okay,” she said. “I-I trust you.”

The turtle Pokémon looked down at her outstretched hand. Then, a soft smile curled upon their face as they took it in both their forepaws. “Thank you,” they said.

Before the girl could realize what was going on, several white crystals suddenly shot up from the ground. They surrounded her briefly, as if waiting patiently for an opportunity. The turtle Pokémon released her hand and floated back, allowing the crystals to merge into a single, large one. They encased the girl from every side, like a cocoon of sorts.

Just as the girl was about to ask what was going on, a flash of light appeared underneath her. She looked down to find a rainbow-coloured vortex open up underneath the crystal casing. She turned her attention back to the turtle Pokémon. “Hold on,” she called out, despite her voice being slightly muffled by the crystal. “Will I see you again?”

The turtle smiled again. “I do hope so,” they replied.

There was a sudden lurch, and the girl felt her crystal cocoon being pulled down through the vortex. As she sank through the multi-coloured swirls, she took one last look at the turtle Pokémon waving farewell.

Then, her whole world went white.