Like the title says,this is what FS entered into the Spc contest, for any one who hasn't read it.
A PMD2 fic, with spoilers if you haven't finished the main storyline.
Enjoy, or gag, just don't die.
Murka awoke to the sun shining brightly in her face. She snapped her golden eyes shut less than a second after she opened them. Mornings in Treasure Town just had to be so damn bright, and the glare from the gentle sea below the cliff--where the Swampert was, previously, sleeping--didn’t help. She muttered to herself and, eyes still closed, rose from her bed, which consisted of not much more than a large bungle of hay and leaves. She yawned, stretched, and underwent all usual morning activities, which mostly consisted of her complaining to the sun to “go back down and come up after noon” and attempting to wake up her den-mate, Inferno. The Infernape, however, didn’t respond with anything except a snore, so Murka decided to sit near the edge of the cliff (seeing as the actual edge was made up of sharp, jagged stones) and observe the waters near the shore. They gently lapped at the sand, turning said grains into a finer brown color. The beach itself was nothing impressive, save for the fact that it was one of few that had its own cave on the western shore, while the eastern shore led to the town. The only other things notable about it were that, during the evenings, the Krabby would come and practice their Bubble attacks, making for a beautiful scenery, while the other was that the majestic best Lapras came to visit here quite often.
Murka knew that from the beach’s view, her home was…quite interesting in appearance. The cliff was in the shape of a Sharpedo, the shark Pokemon, its teeth-filled jaws gaping. The lower jaw was home to both Murka and Inferno; in addition to their beds, there was a small fountain of fresh water that trickled in quietly. A doorframe, sloppily made out of wood, adorned the passage that led to the top of the cliff, which led to Treasure Town. It wasn’t much, but they only used the area to sleep and recover, since guild missions took up almost all of their time now.
A loud, disruptive snore dragged her out of her thoughts, and she lazily turned her head to see Inferno getting to his feet. He yawned, much more exaggerated that she had, and walked over to sit next to the Swampert. “Morning,” she greeted him.
“G’mornin’” he lazily replied.
“How is it good?”
“I dunno.” Murka smiled and coughed a laugh. Inferno was so much different than when they had first met. In fact, they both were…
_______________________________________
Her head was spinning. Her life was flashing before her eyes, but not as violently as before. Water was filling her lungs, yet she could still somehow breathe. The world became black…
When consciousness returned, the first thing she could sense was the sound of the gently lapping waves very close to her. She could feel sand grains under her body, which felt lighter and smaller than before. She was gasping for breath, coughing up water every few seconds. A voice was calling to her, “Hey! Are you okay?! Wake up!” It was a worried, yet kind-hearted voice. But it was unfamiliar.
“Come on, wake up!” She struggled to stand, which was a lot harder than usual, considering…she had four legs? When did that happen?
She coughed again and opened her eyes. The first thing her mind registered was the soft tan color of the beach’s sands. The next thing completely baffled her: her short legs were now a soft, watery blue. She was much closer to the ground than she remembered being. She could feel some sort of pressure on her head, like something was sticking out from the top of it. And…she had a tail…fin…thing?
“Ah, you’re awake!” She snapped out of her pondering and stared at the creature in front of her. He, at least from the voice it was a he, resembled an orange monkey with a tan belly and face. He had a tuft of fur that stood on the top of his head like a small flame. An actual flame made up his tail. His large, red-rimmed eyes were filed with concern and worry, but at the same time with new-found happiness. But since when were Chimchar as tall as humans, or even taller in this case? “Are you okay?” And how in hell was he talking?
“Y-yes, I’m fine,” she managed to stutter out. Why did her voice sound different?
What the hell was going on?
The Chimchar sighed with relief. “Whew, thank goodness! I’m glad you’re okay. But you know, Mudkip aren’t seen very much around here. I never thought I’d meet one before!” He laughed kindly.
Murka blinked. Mudkip? There weren’t any…wait a second. Realization hit her full in the face: she had, somehow, transformed into a Mudkip! And now she was speaking to a Chimchar. ‘I’m going insane,’ she thought to herself.
“My name’s Inferno. What about you?” the Chimchar asked.
“…Murka? Your name’s Murka?”
This had to be a dream…yes, all a dream…
________________________________
Yet it hadn’t been. Here those same two Pokemon were, a few years later, now fully evolved into a powerful team of Swampert and Infernape. They were the best of friends, a top-ranked rescue and exploration team, known far and wide as Team AquaFlare, and were adored and admired by many. They had plenty of money and stored items, and there were hardly any missions that they couldn’t handle as a team, much less with their prized recruits, such as Luxray, befriended on Amp Plains when they gave themselves a self-assigned mission to retrieve a lost item for the Azuril and Marill brothers, and Azelf, who, even though a mighty legendary, happily accepted to join AquaFlare after saving the planet from its future paralysis.
In truth, Murka was actually a human being transformed into a Pokemon because of time travel. She had had a partner with her for the trip, to collect and put into place the mystical Time Gears to prevent the planet’s complete stopping. However, she completely lost her memory and developed amnesia, fooling her partner who had been separated from her, yet kept his mission of collecting the Gears. This, however, stopped time in the area that they were removed from, causing many to think he was a thief. This theory was justified even more by the appearance of Dusknoir, a well-respected Pokemon known for his vast knowledge, but was truly a Pokemon of the future on the side of evil, under the reign of Primal Dialga.
However, Grovyle was not so. After discovering the truth, he, Murka, and Inferno worked together to acquire all of the necessary Time Gears.
It had only been during the last few possible seconds that Grovyle, Murka’s partner, had sacrificed himself to shove Dusknoir back into the future. Murka and Inferno had traveled on to Temporal Tower and secured the Gears into place after defeating Dialga. Because this would restore time, Murka and Grovyle had disappeared, as if they never existed in the future. Dialga, returned to his normal, good self, saw how upset and depressed Inferno was without Murka, and changed time so that the Mudkip came back, on the very beach that she had met Inferno.
But Grovyle never re-appeared.
__________________________________
Murka and Inferno strolled though Treasure Town, giving themselves a day off to rest up from the many missions they had taken recently. Ever since they had first become a rescue team, they had learned about the numerous inhabitants of the area, mainly Wigglytuff’s Guild members. Over the months, they realized, hardly any of them had changed since they had first arrived, save for themselves in appearance. Bidoof was still his un-evolved, polite self, and was a major friend of Team AquaFlare. Loudred had finally passed his graduation exam, but refused to evolve. Corphish was one of the few guild members who had decided to evolve, and he now scuttled around as a large Crawdaunt. Said Pokemon was now a major flirt, and went into a fit of happiness every time a group of female Pokemon entered town. He had even flirted with Murka a few times, just to annoy Inferno. Murka let out a breath of relief when she saw he wasn’t around.
They trotted over to Kangaskhan’s storage, the bag on her shoulder nearly dragging along the ground from its weight. They were greeted warmly, as always.
“Hello dears, what can I do for ya today?” she asked. The light purple baby Kangaskhan in her pouch waved a hello to them. Murka untangled the bag’s strap from around her neck and placed it on the counter.
“We’ve got a ton to store,” Murka replied. “Literally, a ton. My shoulder’s killing me.” The older Pokemon laughed.
“Well, dearie, maybe you should take a Heal Seed for that. You have a ton of those things stored, since you hardly ever use them.”
“Ah, so those things do have a use,” Inferno said while grinning. He helped himself to one of the pale yellow seeds in their bag. “Huh, not bad.” Murka snorted and took one for herself, then proceeded to take all unneeded items out of the bag to be put into storage. Pecha Scarf, Oran Berries, Apples, Pure Seeds, Max Elixers, Tms…Jeez, how much did this bag hold? She glared at the bag, then went on to just turn it over and dump the contents onto the counter. Much better.
She, along with Inferno, managed to separate the items into two piles, one for storage, the other to be kept into the bag. “Mind putting these in storage for us, ma’am?”
“No problem at all, sweety.” Kangaskhan gathered the items into both of her arms and stomped over to a section of the hut. She reached down to place the items down, and an almost-sickening crack could be heard. “Oof…or maybe not. This lady’s becoming an old Crobat.”
“Inferno waved his arm. “Now don’t say that! You’re nowhere near old! You’re as beautiful as a spring flower!” Kangaskhan grinned.
“Well aren’t you sweet. But you’re not bribing me anymore, remember?”
“Damn.” Murka playfully nudged him in the shoulder.
“Don’t take advantage of her. She could wipe the floor clean with you, ya know.” He responded by sticking out his tongue.
After saying their good-byes, they visited Duskull’s Bank to store their excess money, but there wasn’t much conversation, since Duskull was…strange. Not the Pokemon one would want to be around.
After dropping off a few pounds worth of items and money, they traveled south of Treasure Town and headed towards the beach. The sun was still high in the sky, so it was time to kick back and relax. The beach was perfect for both of them: hardly anyone came to it, Murka could lazily swim and float in the warm water, and Inferno could sunbathe on the sand, like they always did in their spare time.
Upon reaching the beach, Inferno immediately plopped down, put on his X-ray Specs as sunglasses, and lied down on his back with his hands behind his head. Murka dropped the bag near him, dove for the water and went under, resurfacing a few seconds later. She lay forward so that her back, tailfin, and the top of her head were above water, while the rest of her body was below, and just floated. Hours passed with nothing but relaxation.
When the time came for them to start heading back home, they both detected a presence hidden in the trees surrounding the southern portion of the beach. They whipped their heads around to face the menace, but were immediately shocked when the figure stepped out into the open.
To say Inferno was amazed was an understatement. His mouth was hanging open, and he couldn’t even begin to form words. His eyes were wide, and continued blinking to see if he could repel the illusion.
Murka, however, had tears streaming down her face. They weren’t tears of terror, or sadness, but of pure joy. This was the one she hadn’t seen in years. This was her first best friend. This was her partner.
Her voice was barely a whisper:
“Grovyle…?”
Yuppers...
-FS
