Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Altered Bonds
Special Episode 1 — Something About Plants
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“Observe.”
The tip of Braixen’s wand ignited. Staring down the mossy, leaf-beridden walls of the Mystery Dungeon, the bipedal fox exhaled, then struck it with the flame. Instantly the fire jumped toward the greenery, cackling as it tore it apart into cinders.
In its place, a gaping hole appeared, leading into a hallway of darkness, and Braixen turned to smile at his teammates. Heliolisk was in shock, no pun intended, the electric desert lizard’s feet gripping the cracks of the stony brick floor. Behind him, the towering, silver-armored form of Goliosopod stared with an empty look.
And then Heliolisk fired off a grin. “Dang,” he said, folding his arms. “Didn’t know Lush Temple had secrets behind the moss walls. How’d you figure that one out, Braixen?”
Braixen merely tapped on his forehead, bushy yellow tail curling with contentment. He had figured as much — all this overgrowth was too suspicious to ignore, and this part of the wall felt especially hollow. A pity no one bothered to check, he thought, readjusting the Treasure Bag strapped to his shoulder before stepping inside.
A new flame lighted up his wand, driving away the shadows of the hidden corridor. Heliolisk and Goliosopod followed, one with a confident stride, the other quietly eyeing the walls. Even here, green moss and plants swarmed the temple brick layout, giving the solemn place a wild look to it.
Unlike the rest of Lush Temple, however, the greenery was getting out of hand here. The further Braixen went, the thicker the leaves got, long vines snaking out in the distance. More of those vines appeared the further in he went, until all he could see was vines. Pulsing, writhing vines. It made him twitch when his feet, stepping onto the vines, felt a bizarre sensation of heat crawling up into his skirt-like fur.
Something was extra wrong here. Could it be?
Goliosopod began to tremble as they kept going, the vines growing in size. Suddenly the arthropod pointed with three of his six arms — one of the meaty claws at the top of his body and the two spindly ones underneath. “You got something, big guy?” Heliolisk asked, and he nodded, staring with dread at a shape lying at the back of the hallway.
They were now in a spacious, green room, the vines encasing this place like a pile of giant, organic wires. The shape itself was a hideous thing, drenched in a mass of these vines, and it stood upon a crumbled pedestal. With a snap it turned, and Braixen bared his teeth at the Roserade trapped inside.
Well, it was a Roserade, complete with bouquet-flower hands and white rose petals blooming from its head. But judging from the flower’s sunken red eyes and the mass of vines sprouting out of it, not to mention that beating heart of coiled vines attached to its chest? It was now something else.
It locked eyes with them, and Braixen felt the walls glare at them. “Aaaaaaand trouble,” said Heliolisk, giving Braixen a playful smack. “Must be our lucky day. You think this Pokespawn’s special?”
The Roserade-vine monster had yet to move, but the room was alive with its silent malice. Braixen set his eyes on that vine-like heart throbbing from its body, ears picking up on the faintest of heartbeats. “That heart is special,” he stated. “I suspect all these vines originated from it.”
“And if we destroy it?”
“Or,” Braixen considered, a thin smile on his face, “we could take it instead. Golisopod?”
No time wasted. In a snap the armored bug blurred forward, the spiky tips of his arms encased with faded green light. The Roserade could barely turn before he jabbed the Pokespawn with First Impression.
It screeched, body flailing and tumbling off the pillar, and the giant vines crawling all over the walls snapped off. Braixen immediately handed his Treasure Bag to Heliolisk, wand at the ready, and with a twirl he summoned a vortex of flame. Fire Spin unleashed itself as it blew out in all directions, vines hesitating as the flames chased after them.
One of the vines moved too quickly and got burnt, Braixen raising a brow as a whole chunk turned to flaky ash all at once. Fire worked wonders on these vines, didn’t it? Best to remove them before Roserade could utilize them. He got to work, embers spitting out of his trusty wand.
Golisopod and Heliolisk had the Roserade itself covered, the shaggy mess of a plant monster staggering toward them, only for Heliolisk to stun it with electric charges. Golisopod attacked more directly, slashing at its outstretched vines. One of the giant vines on the floor flicked up to attack, but one Flamethrower from Braixen and it was nothing more than dust.
Their teamwork was beautiful. Lush Temple was no mere dungeon, its high danger rank stemming — pun not intended — from its traps and some very vicious Pokespawn. This Roserade was no different, firing off Petal Blizzards to ward off Golisopod and Heliolisk, but the duo were quick to disengage wherever the storm of deadly petals came their way, then fight back with electric shocks and some deadly pincer attacks. The creepy plant hissed at Braixen, but the fire fox kept burning vines, making sure they couldn’t threaten them.
The monster tried changing tactics, raising one of its bouquet arms, and a purplish ooze fired out at Golisopod. Heliolisk anticipated this in advance, however, and had already pulled out a pink scarf that he threw into Golisopod’s arms. The bug wrapped it over his arm before smacking the ooze, the Toxic poison dissolving as the scarf glowed with power.
Pokespawn weren’t the sort to have real emotions, but Braixen was sure Roserade was gnashing its teeth at them. “So welcome to your worst nightmare, Pecha Scarves to counter your silly poisons,” Heliolisk taunted. His frill flared out and sparked, Roserade’s vines doing their best to absorb the resulting Thunderbolt. “500 Poke for our gardening services sounds fair, eh?”
Golisopod rolled his eyes before absorbing another Toxic, firing back with an array of spikes firing out of its claws. The Pin Missile storm drove Roserade to its knees, and it desperately threw its body forward, the remainder of its vines snaking out—
But now it was weak, and Braixen was ready to wrap things up. A blaze left his wand and branded the Roserade from the side, leaving it to drop to the floor. Golisopod leapt in right after, puncturing the vine-encased Pokespawn in the neck.
Roserade gave up and crumbled into nothingness. Red-purplish wisps took its place, the stuff that dungeon Pokespawn were made of, and floated toward the ceiling.
And all that remained was the pile of vines that once covered it. They turned a shade of yellow, as did the vines growing all over the room, and withered away. Braixen sighed as the air became far less suffocating, peering at the vine heart that remained.
It was no longer beating, yet clearly intact. “Score, a creepy artifact of unspeakable vine magic,” said Heliolisk as he handed back the Treasure Bag and Pecha Scarf. Behind that smug, easygoing face of his, however, Braixen could sense his excitement — his developing Psychic power could feel it in all three of them.
They, Team Elementri, had ventured to Junglebush Island in search of the legends, magic, and treasures buried within their homeland, Haven Archipelago. A special archipelago that not only held the world’s only true civilization of Pokemon-kind, hidden away from those strange, terrible humans, but also featured supernatural powers and forces. The Mystery Dungeons were an extension of those forces, pocket dimension mazes that were filled with all sorts of traps, Pokemon constructs known as Pokespawn, and strange wonders hidden in its corners.
And this vine-heart? This was a unique kind of wonder. “That can’t be an exclusive item,” Heliolisk remarked. “Not some fancy magic tool only a specific Pokemon can use. We really hit the jackpot this time, didn’t we?”
Golisopod mumbled a word or two, making a soft chuckle leave Braixen’s throat. “That’s sorcery that lies at our feet, my friends,” he said. “No dungeon could have made this. Nay, this must have been hidden here by some unknown person, or it existed long before the temple was transformed into the Mystery Dungeon now present.”
He allowed himself to touch their prize, unafraid of what would happen next. Sure enough, he felt the magic within the heart respond, and its strange power touched his mind. At once he understood what this was: a charmed item that could cover its user in a shroud of living plant-like armor, with a bonus of Grass-type energies to command at will. The Roserade, being a mere Pokespawn, could not hope to use it to its full extent.
Braixen had searched for a find like this for a long, long time. He remembered all the searches they made, all the letdowns they’d gone through. Too often did they find Elemental Gems or the occasional evolutionary stone, but this time, fortune smiled upon them. Lush Temple had been rumored to hold some odd treasures, and now he had found this organic… organ.
That pun was not intended either — but never mind that. They made a real discovery this time. Who would make such a strange artifact, he knew not, but it was a matter for another day. Now he and his explorer team could celebrate.
This time, Team Elementri had done themselves proud.
Perhaps he had been hasty to enjoy their victory, though. One moment Braixen was clutching the heart, the next an electric jolt left him keeling over, the magical item yanked out of his grasp. With a jerk he looked back, catching sight of a metallic, floating creature with magnets for hands and a tail, a yellow antenna still sparking on top of his head. A Magnezone?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The Pokemon was retreating into the darkness, and Braixen groaned as he saw Heliolisk and Golisopod kneeling down. “Elementri, thief!” he barked, and his teammates forced themselves up, wearing the same disgruntled look as him.
A Magnezone, a Pokemon known for its lawful nature, stole from them. And at a defining moment for them too — unbelievable. Braixen began running, wand lit aflame with cool anger, and the others followed. That thief would not get far.
Indeed, they caught up to him just as they emerged out of the secret hall. Magnezone floated up in a room adorned with worn archways and pillars, his big red eye and the ones on his shoulders watching them. The vine heart rested within the grasp of his left magnet-hand. “Excuse me, sir, but you have something of ours,” Braixen declared.
Golisopod nodded, while Heliolisk threw the robotic Pokemon a glare. “Zzt, this?” Magnezone asked, shaking the vine-heart.
“That.” Braixen inclined his head. “It would be best if you were to hand that back, please.”
“Zzt, but you are mistaken.” Magnezone’s eyes trembled, and he held the heart a little tighter. “I was the one who found that passageway first. If not for that Roserade knocking me out—”
“You lost to a Roserade?” Heliolisk blurted, trying not to laugh. “A Roserade? You resist Grass and Poison can’t even affect you, yet you lost to a silly Roserade?”
Magnezone was silent. The urge to sigh welled up in Braixen’s throat — a freeloader and a thief. How pathetic could one get?
Eventually their foe shook his head, waving his free arm. “But that matters no longer,” he stated. “The magic artifact is mine. All that was needed was a chance to take it from the Roserade abomination, and you provided it, zzt. Now it no longer matters how weak I am.”
Braixen didn’t waste time — he knew the danger that vine-heart could pose if used right — and cast flames upon the Magnezone. Sadly, the thief expected it, steering clear of the attack with a metallic cackle. The vine heart pulsed once, then twice.
Then madness came knocking.
Vines sprouted out like tentacles, latching onto Magnezone’s body and wrapping around. The metal Pokemon raised his magnet-hands, and the vines swarmed all over, covering them up entirely. Then its magnet-tail, then the shoulders, and then the central body, Magnezone’s red eye full of giddy mania as the vines took over his face. Last was the antenna, vines climbing up to shroud it from sight.
Team Elementri could only watch as the vines kept growing, covering the Magnezone many times over. Elongated vine arms took shape, along with an oversized dragon tail. A new, living antenna grew on top, sparking with newfound power, and a giant, vine-filled grin took over what was now Magnezone’s face. “I never had a real mouth before,” he said as he tested his green lips, flowers blooming where his three eyes should be. “How do I look?”
It disturbed Braixen on a fundamental level when the flowers all winked at him. “Uh, does he actually see with those?” Heliolisk asked, Golisopod clutching his purple stomach with wide eyes.
Several vines wriggled out of Magnezone’s body and roped themselves into streaming wires, all pointing threateningly at the group. “Now then,” he said, pointing at the beating vine heart affixed to his underside. “You say this was yours? I must urge you to consider that — it is mine.”
The arms swung first, then the wire-vines. Braixen and Heliolisk leapt back as they swiped at them, but Golisopod was slower, the vines sweeping him to the ground with a grunt. “Mine first! MINE!” said Magnezone as Golisopod tried to protect himself from the next wave of attacks. “With this power, I can shed my metal body and take on the essence of the plant. You are witnesses to my final form — my omega form, zzt!”
Flames jumped out of Braixen’s wand, but unlike Roserade, these vines did not burn so easily. Shades of black discolored them, Magnezone gritting his plant-mouth as if the attack physically hurt him, but it wasn’t enough to destroy them. “I am Omega Magnezone, and you will learn to fear me!” he yelled, and the fox sighed. On top of being a freeloader and a thief, this guy was a nutcase too.
Heliolisk was ducking and leaping over vine after vine. “Aren’t sequels just the worst?” he joked, flipping over Magnezone’s extended arm. “Look, Braixen, it’s Attack of the Vine Monster Two: Death by Electric Plant Boogaloo!”
Braixen had enough time to gawk at his teammate and his funky words. “Electric what?” he asked, firing more flames. “What in Haven Archipelago is a ‘boogaloo’? Heliolisk, if you’re going insane too—”
“Is it insanity if it’s intended?”
Too many vines. Braixen defensively walled himself with fire, protecting himself from Magnezone’s chaotic plant attacks. “For crying out loud—”
“Skip the crying and get to the thrashing, eh?” Heliolisk fired a quick Thundershock, disappointed that it barely affected Magnezone. “What’s the plan here? I can’t do much against this guy.”
“Working on it!” Braixen unleashed a torrent of flames that warded off the vines attacking Golisopod, giving the muscle of their team enough time to fight back. Because of that vine-heart, Magnezone had effectively gained an organic layer of armor. He was practically an Electric, Steel, and Grass-type all at once, meaning Heliolisk’s Electric moves were useless.
But his weakness to Fire was greater than ever, and Magnezone would feel it even through those thick vines. He gestured to Golisopod, and the bug jumped, a warbled gasp leaving Magnezone’s mouth as he latched onto his body and weighed him down. Vines flicked toward him, and only Golisopod’s Pin Missiles could keep him from drowning in the attacks.
Braixen again tossed his Treasure Bag to Heliolisk — why was he the bag bearer anyway when he never used it? — and the lizard caught it mid-leap over a vine. “Blast Seeds?” he asked.
“Whatever gets rid of that meddlesome armor,” Braixen replied, charging the element of fire into his wand. He still wanted that vine-heart — to destroy it would be such a pitiful waste. Yet if he was to take out Magnezone, only the strongest of his Fire-type moves would do.
This called for a Fire Blast.
Suddenly deciding that maybe using vines all the time was too predictable, Magnezone called on his other newly gained powers, eyes shedding a fierce Petal Blizzard that buffeted Braixen and his mouth spitting out point-blank Bullet Seeds at Golisopod. The armored bug screeched as they struck the purple skin in between his silver-plated armor, leaping back to evade the attacks. “I need him still!” Braixen ordered, and Heliolisk began throwing Blast Seeds from the bag, trying to distract Magnezone.
No good. “I see you, zzt,” mocked Magnezone as the Blast Seeds detonated in flaming bursts, only for vines to regrow the damage they caused. His organic antenna sizzled with electricity, and Braixen took cover behind one of the pillars, the stone cracking as a powerful bolt struck it. “You think you can defeat the Omega Magnezone?”
Braixen kept charging his Fire Blast — he needed all the power he could get. Terror shook his frame when the light of an accursed Hyper Beam glowed from within Magnezone’s maw. If that so much as grazed him—
Golisopod thrust his body against the Magnezone, and the Hyper Beam fired off to the side and deep into one of the temple’s hallways, Braixen’s ears folding from the blaring noise. Heliolisk didn’t miss a beat either, climbing on top of Magnezone and raising his leg.
Then he stomped down, and Magnezone quaked with a groan, falling down. “Yeah, how’s about that improvised Bulldoze?” said Heliolisk as vines crawled toward him.
But at last Braixen was ready. He leapt past the pillar and brought out his wand, now smoking and full of red light. Magnezone’s flower-eyes blinked, then seemed to shed their petals. “My cue to leave,” Heliolisk said with a chuckle, and he and Golisopod scrambled away.
Then fire.
A beautiful blaze of explosive fury, engulfing the so-called Omega Magnezone whole. The robot behind the plant armor screamed, thrashing its fire-coated vines everywhere. Stone pillars snapped, archways were chipped, but the unbreakable walls of the dungeon held strong as ever.
It may as well be his greatest Fire Blast to date. Heliolisk leaned against one of the walls as he watched the fire show, while Golisopod kept a neutral position. Braixen himself was already striding forward, certain that this charade was well over.
By some miracle, parts of Magnezone’s vine-armor survived the flames. Most of it was stripped away and turned into ash, the true metallic body of their foe poking out at certain places. One of the shoulders was still mostly intact, its arm reduced to a silly nub. The other arm dangled to the side, and a desperate swipe from Magnezone showed it was still usable. How impressive.
What mattered, though, was the vine-heart still attached to the underside. “No, you can’t,” came the Pokemon’s cracked voice, vines stretched out in warning as Braixen came closer. “I-I am Omega Magnezone! You cannot take my power from me! I WILL NOT BE WEAK!”
He flailed his vines, and Braixen cast flames aplenty, burning them away. Yet the Magnezone kept fighting, growing more vines that had to be turned into cinders. Heliolisk chucked a Stun Seed over, but the remaining vine-arm intercepted it, the seed popping uselessly against it.
But Braixen refused to leave without that magic artifact, and he wasn’t letting this crazy Pokemon keep it either. If you won’t allow me to come closer, he thought, then so be it.
A purple light doused his wand, and Braixen locked onto the vine-heart, a purple glow enveloping it. “What? No, no, NO!” Magnezone screeched as Psychic took hold, tugging at the artifact. What looked like a Magical Leaf attack flew out of the remains of Magnezone’s plant mouth, but Heliolisk fried them with a Thunderbolt. Then vines grew toward Braixen, which Golisopod was quick to rip apart with his Pin Missiles.
Still Magnezone continued to resist. Vines kept the heart lodged in place, and Braixen yanked harder, hands trembling. “Release it,” he said.
“NO! I WON’T, ZZT!” came the crazed reply. Magnezone thrust his arm toward his heart, trying to put it in front of the Psychic hold. “YOU CAN’T—”
Something went squish.
It was such an insignificant sound, yet everyone flinched at the noise. Then Magnezone wailed in pain, a shockwave spreading out from him that knocked Team Elementri to the floor. Braixen was swift to get up, eyes wavering at the rapidly dying vines laid in front of him.
There was Magnezone, toppled and knocked out. The remains of his vine armor were spread all over the temple floor. And there, in a puddle of ooze, a crushed heart of yellow vines thumped for the last time.
The magic artifact was gone. In a total klutz move, Magnezone had managed to squish it. Now it was withering, turning into dust like the vines it produced.
Gone.
Braixen slowly turned to Golisopod, who looked stupefied beyond belief, and then to Heliolisk. The electric lizard was still processing everything. His cheeks puffed out once as if to laugh, but upon seeing the null void that was Braixen’s face, he caught himself and coughed.
Why no Pokespawn had appeared during that whole fight, Braixen did not understand, but now there was a Claydol floating into the room. A blade of water formed in Golisopod’s claw as he dealt with the living, eight-eyed golem, striking it down with Razor Shell’s power before turning to Braixen.
“I’ve failed,” he rasped, hanging his head.
Braixen waved the gesture away. “You did nothing wrong,” he said, releasing a long, tired sigh. “None of us did.”
All that work to secure the strange magic object, and this fool of a Magnezone messed it up. They would not be bringing the vine-heart back home. They would not be able to study the strange item further and find out its origins. They would not get a chance to show it off to their fellow explorer, Gabite of Team Heavendust.
Oh, how amazed their friend would’ve been. For once they had found something noteworthy — not the most spectacular thing, but good enough not to ignore — and their treasure was now reduced to nothing. What a letdown.
There, the vine heart was completely gone now. Braixen stared at the greenish ooze it left behind, failing to notice the yellow hand that clamped over his shoulder. “Bummer,” Heliolisk said, an honest frown on his face. “I know how happy you were when we got that artifact. You need a moment?”
Braixen turned to Magnezone, the silly Pokemon spinning around on its antenna even though it was out cold. “I am quite fine,” he replied, dusting off his skirt-like fur. “A waste of time, to be sure, but it is what it is.”
“Mhm.” A smirk took hold of Heliolisk’s face. “But if we found one of those crazy treasures here, we can find another ‘round these parts, eh?”
Maybe, just maybe. The thought of it made Braixen raise his tail a little higher — finding mysteries was what his explorer team did, and no setbacks would stop them from pursuing their goals. With Mystery Dungeons, there was always going to be something special to discover.
And Team Elementri was going to keep on searching. “First things first, though,” Braixen said, pointing the tip of his wand at Magnezone. Heliolisk and Golisopod stared at the fallen Pokemon, and all three of them shook their heads in unison.
This guy was a menace, even to his own self. “Why don’t we bring him to the authorities?”