Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Broken Ideals

Chapter 2: The First Dungeon

Chapter 2

The First Dungeon

Sometime the next morning when the shade of Terron's tree was no longer covering him, the warm rays of the sun shined down on his eyes. The brightness of the sudden light behind his eyes caused him to stir until he awoke. He found that he was still a Cubone and still was without a mask.

Terron rubbed the tired out of his eyes as he looked around him only to find that his companion wasn't by his side anymore. In fact, Zekra wasn't anywhere in sight. The only sign that she was ever with him was the slightly flattened grass beside him that fit her form. A quick jolt of panic overcame Terron at the thought that he was alone, but it passed just as quickly. He sat up from where he lay and took in the now-visible scenery of the Gray Lands.

Everything was nearly identical to how it looked at night, except the colors were more vibrant and the atmosphere was much more pleasant. With the cover of darkness gone, Terron could see that the land he stood in stretched out seemingly endlessly in all directions like a sea of grass. All directions, that is, except two of them. The direction in which Terron was facing only seemed to go on for a few miles, or so it appeared, before it turned into a much browner area. Just beyond that, there was a distant mountain looming in the background.

The other direction, the one behind Terron, also seemed to go on forever just as the other directions did. However, after gazing into the distance for a moment, he was able to see that there was an actual ending to the eternal grassland on this side. Very faintly the Cubone could see the hazy outline of what appeared to be buildings and a few trees. It was so far away, though. It had to be at least a three-day journey to get there on foot.

"We'd better be going toward the mountain," Terron muttered to himself after comparing the distances.

He got to his feet and began to walk around the field in search of Zekra. The grass felt warm and pleasant against his feet as he treaded through silently. The grass got taller at various points so that in would begin to rise to his stomach, but it wasn't particularly bothersome. After roaming a few minutes away from the tree, Terron eventually came across something other than endless green. He stopped and hid behind nearby tall grass before peeking out. A few feet away were a couple of Rattata munching on some flowers in an open space where no grass grew. They seemed mostly docile as they ate, not making much noise save for the chewing sounds.

Guess there are Pokémon that live around here. Terron thought. Wonder if these ones talk like Zekra does …

The Cubone was about to speak to the rodents, but it was then that he noticed something else. There was a pair of eyes hidden behind some tall plants near the Rattata. They were a light blue color with white pupils. They seemed to be staring at the Rattata with a hunter's gaze.

In a quick instant, a dark blur shot out of the grass where the eyes were, and the sounds of paws landing on the ground filled the air. The Rattata grew alarmed and started to run away, but found that their tails were being held down by the feet of what had been stalking them; it was Zekra.

The Rattata screeched in panic and tried to fight back. One of them jumped toward Zekra despite having its tail being held down, but Zekra quickly snapped her jaws around its body. With a loud crunch, her fangs sank into its flesh and instantly killed the small Pokémon. She dropped the corpse to the ground before lunging her head at the other Rattata. Terron watched with wide eyes as Zekra killed the creature just as quickly as she did with the first.

She spit out the dead mouse from her muzzle as she finally released the two tails from her grasp. She began to clean herself from the blood splattered on her face.