Sunlight: A Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon Fic, Chapter 1

	The first thing I remember was the waterfall. I woke up to the spray on my face as it washed the sleep from my eyes. Sitting up, I 	immediately regretted it - my head pounded like a drummer with anger issues, and the rest of my body ached all over. I couldn’t help but let out a low moan of pain. The waterfall took no notice, rushing as fast as ever. Pushing myself to my feet, I looked around. Where was I? I didn’t remember this place at all. I tried to think back, to remember how I'd got here. My mind was blank. I tried to remember the previous night, but evidently my head was hurting too much to think straight. I tried to remember further back.

	...Oh, shit.

	I didn’t remember anything.

	Well, I remembered my name - Jacob. There was something, at least. This did little to alleviate my rising panic. The only thing that quelled it was a sudden increase in the pounding of my head, and the equally sudden realization that my throat was incredibly dry. Stumbling over nothing in particular, I made my way over to the waterfall where it fell into a crystal-clear pool. I drank greedily, the water tasting heavenly on my parched tongue. Never had plain old water tasted so sweet. Eventually, I came up gasping for air, and sat back to catch my breath. The water rippled in the waterfall and from my face in it, but my reflection was slowly growing visible.

	...That was not my reflection. That was a Snivy.

	I blinked. The Snivy blinked.

	I turned my head. The Snivy turned its head.

	I waved. The Snivy waved back.

	It had to be my reflection. Which means that I was a Snivy. This was clearly impossible, but it appeared to be happening entirely in disregard for impossibilities. My breath caught in my throat, and the pounding in my head accelerated to match my heartbeat. I shakily stood, backing away from the water. This...couldn’t be real, right?

	I almost laughed, it was so simple. Of course it wasn’t real! I was dreaming! That made sense! People don’t always remember things while dreaming, and impossible things can happen in dreams! I shook my head at myself. Of course, now that I had realized I was dreaming, I’d probably wake up soon...

	An unearthly ear-piercing tone shocked me out of my reverie, and I turned to look. Three strange Pokemon - tan, with oversized heads and glowing, unsettling fingers - drifted towards me ominously. Instinctively, I reached behind my back for...what? I didn't have anything to reach for, nothing hung - ZAP! As I stood frozen in thought, one of the strange Pokemon blasted me with something...wrong, something that crawled over me like razor-legged millipedes. I instinctively stumbled backwards, trying to distance myself. Another one raised a strangely shaped hand, aiming another bolt at me. I ducked under the blast, stumbling backwards before turning and sprinting into the forest. One thought pounded in my already-aching head as I ran - This was NOT a dream!

	Branches scratched at my face as I ran. Roots seemed to reach up from the ground to grab me and trip me up, but whenever I tried to catch my breath I spotted the flickering light of the strange Pokemon behind me. I couldn't keep this up forever - Suddenly, the world backflipped as a root finally succeeded in catching my foot, and I was sent sprawling to the ground. My body complained loudly at the abuse, but I couldn't just stop, I had to keep - "Now hold on there, partner, you doin' alright?" My head snapped around to see a kindly-looking Pokemon with a leaf on its head and fairly humanoid body plan extending a hand to me. "Up you get!" I took his hand gratefully, and was hoisted bodily to my feet. It was at this point that my brain ticked into gear. That was a Pokemon, and there was nobody else around to talk, so...did I just understand a Pokemon?! My surprise must have shown clearly on my face, as the Pokemon made a calming gesture, stepping back. "Whoa, there, what'd I do? The name's Nuzleaf! You okay?" Before I could respond, a look of surprise crossed his face. I turned to see what I half-expected already - the same group of Pokemon that had been chasing me. They came to a stop in midair when they saw Nuzleaf, flashing their lights at each other. "W-what's this, 'en?" Nuzleaf asked, apprehensive himself. "Who're you? Something with this'un - !" A sickly green bolt of light zapped through the place where his head had been moments before. "Yikes! C'mon, kid, let's get out of here!" I would have taken issue with being called “kid,” but I needed to save my breath for running - and, despite the protests of my legs, run I did!

	This time, the run seemed slightly easier - the path was clear, no roots or trees. Nuzleaf seemed wary, though, and my legs were threatening to make a formal protest, so when he stopped I assumed we'd managed to lose them. My hopes were dashed when he cursed noisily. "Aw, shells - it's a mystery dungeon!" He seemed frozen for a moment, before a glimpse of flickering light from the trees made the decision for him. "C'mon, kid - mystery dungeons're nicer an' them!" he yelled, ducking through the natural "doorway" of branches ahead of us. Not willing to take my chances, I followed and hoped for the best!

	As I walked through the door, I felt...the only way to describe it would be "wobbling." It felt like a little piece of the world had come loose, and was swinging freely in space. For a heartbeat that took far too long, everything hung motionless before coming into place with a tangible snap. I landed, stumbled, and looked around for Nuzleaf.

	...Well. It looked as if I wouldn't have to worry about the Beeheyem right behind me, anyway. The door I'd come through had vanished, leaving only two paths out of the room. I picked one at random and started down it, keeping an eye out for Nuzleaf. A green blur moved ahead of me and I instantly froze, trying to see what it was. A whisper drifted down the path - "Psst! Kid! That you?" I recognized Nuzleaf's voice and his long nose. Gratefully, I unfroze, moving towards him.
	"Yeah, it's me," I whispered, trying to stay calm. He wasn't making it easy, given how tense he was.
	He wiped his forehead, looking around nervously. "We're in trouble here, I reckon - mystery dungeons ain't the nicest of places on a good day, and 'specially not when you're bein' chased. You can't get out th'way you got in, so you've gotta head for th'stairs and hope. I've done some travelling o'my own, so you just stick to me like a bad stain - I'll get'cha out. Mystery dungeons c'n have some funny stuff in 'em, so sing out if'n you spot anything, and watch out for other Pokemon - if'n you stay in a mystery dungeon too long, you get real touchy and violent."
	My aching head struggled to absorb all this, but I managed to respond with a "Yep, got it." The two of us padded down the surprisingly clear trail, looking warily around. As we came up on another clearing, Nuzleaf threw out an arm to stop me, his voice dropping to a whisper. "There, see?" A Doduo stood on the far side of the clearing, one head munching berries while the other stood guard. "We're going to need to beat this guy to keep going, I reckon. You stay there, I'll go deal with him." He vanished into the undergrowth, only a faint rustling betraying his position as he circled around to the other side of the Doduo. A stick arced out of where I'd seen him last, landing across the clearing. The Doduo's sentry head came around sharply to peer at the spot of landing as the other head came up to look around, and that's when Nuzleaf made his move - he leapt out, landing on the Doduo's back, and smashing its heads together. It went down like a rock.

	I must have made some small noise - the speed and brutality had shocked me - because he looked over at me with a grimace. "Rough old world out there, I reckon. Y'gotta know how to fight out here. C'mon, I do believe we're almost through - look out!" I spun to see a Paras leaping at me, eyes wild and claws outstretched. Instinct took over - I leapt at it, spinning a little to smack it with my tail (a detached part of my mind noted that I could evidently move the tail like I was born with it). There was an explosion of shadowy, ugly-looking energy, and the Paras was sent sprawling to the ground. "Nice one! I reckon that'd be a Pursuit attack - not as strong as your Grass-type attacks, but prob'ly better against a Paras." Nuzleaf smiled at me.
	My mind was still running on adrenaline, and all I could say was "...what? I did what?"
	His expression quickly changed from smile to confusion. "Y'mean to say you've never used a move before? Who ARE you, anyhow?" His expression slowly changed, getting angrier as he processed. "And those Beheyeem - you got yourself in trouble, and then I reckon you got ME in on it! What's with you?!"
	I realized I was starting to curl up under the verbal assault, and forced myself to stand up straight. "I don't know! I don't know why they were attacking me, I don't know why I'm here, I don't remember anything!" I realized I was yelling. I didn’t really care anymore.
	Nuzleaf cocked his head inquisitively. "Really? You don't remember nothing?"
	My anger drained out of me in a rush, leaving me nothing but tired. "No, only my name - Jacob. I'm a human, I'm not supposed to even be a Pokemon, and I don't even know how I got here or..." I trailed off. Nuzleaf raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Mighty convenient, that. You don't remember nothing, but these here Beheeyem are after you anyhow, and - wait, what?!" His expression rapidly shifted from disbelief to surprise and - did I see anger? No, it couldn't have been. "Human!? How in the -" An unearthly wail broke the tension, and I whipped around to see a flickering light in the woods behind us. "Ah, shells!" he swore. "They done found us again! Get to running!" He took off down a path, and - desperation lending wings to my tired feet - I followed close behind.

	What felt like an eternity later, I stumbled down another set of stairs, looking around. The forest seemed...different, somehow; more clear, more open, like an actual forest rather than a death trap. Nuzleaf looked around happily. "We did it! We done got out of the dungeon!" He wiped his brow, stretching. "Phew! That was one heck of an adventure, I reckon. And you -" he pointed at me "- done dragged me into it!" Sitting down and wiping his brow, he leaned back against a tree. "But I reckon I could forgive you just this once, you being all right an' all. An' besides, from what you done told me, you don't remember none of what you did, so it ain't really your fault nohow." That seemed fair enough, I supposed, so I bit off my vehement defense. Stretching, he stood again, shaking out the kinks in his arms. "Well, I'd best be on my way. You get safely home now, y'hear?" He turned to leave, before pausing and looking back. "But then y'did say something about being a human, didn't you? Which means you ain't got no home here..." I nodded. Honestly, I hadn't realized that until now - I'd been too busy working on survival. He sighed. "Well, sorry, but I can't do nothing about that. You ought to see 'bout finding yourself somewhere to sleep. Good luck, friend. Fare thee well." He turned away, continuing onwards.

	I watched him go a little wistfully - the only person I knew here, and he was leaving... "Goodbye, friend," I muttered quietly, before turning back to the forest. There was water near the waterfall, and I could probably put something ramshackle together with some sticks. Food would be a challenge, but maybe if I figured out how being a Grass-type worked I could do photosynthesis or something...
	"Ah, heck!" I turned around to see Nuzleaf hurrying back, shaking his head. "I reckon I can't stand to look at you all sad and lonely like that. 'Specially with those Beeheyem wand'rin round. Can't hardly stay here with you, though...how about you come stay with me?"
	I blinked, stammering out "W-with you?"
	He nodded, a small smile growing on his face. "Sure! My home's a bit too big for just one, I reckon, and it's in a nice place. You can stay there 'till you get your memory back or whatnot." I reviewed my options. Either I stay in the forest full of dangerous Pokemon, including three powerful Psychic-types with murderous intent, or I follow the only Pokemon I know in the world who's agreed to take care of me.
	Put that way... "Thank you very much. I'd quite appreciate it."
	He beamed widely. "Well, that's just plumb great! It's a bit of a hike, but not too far." He turned to leave once more, and this time, I followed him.