//------------------------------// // The Mischiefs // Story: Pokémon/Digimon Mystery Dungeon: The Adventure Begins // by StormPhoenix246 //------------------------------// The rest of the day followed with Rainbow Dash getting to know her Pokémon partners. She spent the entire day showing them all of her awesome tricks and they showed all of their moves. Tom helped Rainbow Dash with what she should know went taking care of a Pokémon. He offered his advice for taking care of flying types and offered battle training, which she accepted. Fluttershy also offered her expertise in taking care of Pokémon, like providing a recipe for making good food. As the sun began setting, the three parted ways and knew it was time to turn in. Fluttershy checked Tom before he left, at Pikachu’s request, despite him denying he was fine. He checked out fine with a few scrapes and bruises. Even the injury he received from the manticore was gone. With very few injuries, she sent him off with a few bandages. When Tom was beginning his trek home, he stopped by the Apple farm and received his pay for the work day. They gave him 200 bits for today’s work, which he thought was too much and tried to refuse. The Apples said that he earned that money after doing so much work. With no clear way of getting out of it, he took the money and went on his way. After walking for nearly 20 minutes, he finally made it back to the library. When he entered the place, he and Pikachu ate dinner with Twilight and Spike. Once they were finished and the dishes were cleaned, they went into the adjoining bedrooms and fell asleep. The morning came once the sun rose from the horizon in the distance. Ponies exited from their various houses to begin the new day at work. Some were beginning to open their stores or set up their stands, while others were simply enjoying a nice quiet day at home. Even some of the Pokémon could be seen in the walking amongst the townsfolk. The ponies were starting to get used to the Pokémon. Down the road, at Fluttershy’s cottage, she could be seen from her kitchen, preparing food for the animals. Since she loves animals so much and has so many living with her, it’s her job to take care of them. She gets up early in the morning to prepare food for her animal friends. And with the appearance of the new species. she’s had to try making new recipes that they’d like. A few hits and misses were made before she finally found the food they’d like. After feeding the animals and Pokémon inside her home, she left her home with plates of food with her. First, she brought fat balls containing food for the birds up in the trees and brown kibbles for the flying types. She dropped baskets full of vegetables for all the creatures in burrows. In her backyard, she spread seeds for all of her chickens. The river creatures received some fish food while the woodland creatures got various berries and nuts. The cave, where a bear and a Teddiursa normally sleep, was visited by the mare as she dropped hives of honey for the two. Soon enough, all of her animal friends were given so they could start their day. Each one of them dove straight for the food reigns after the Pegasus presented it to them. While the animals and Pokémon were enjoying their food, Fluttershy was simply standing there watching them enjoy their meals. “Enjoy the food, everybody,” Fluttershy said before going into her home and fixing herself breakfast. Near the back of the cottage, various Pokémon were enjoying the delicious food prepared for them. One of those types of Pokémon was a Chespin. Its mouth was watering at the site of the delicious food right in front of it. It couldn’t wait to feed its growling stomach. Before it could take the first bite, it felt something touch its back. At first, the Chespin thought it was simply the Bunnery next to it but was mistaken. With a simple shrug, it turned back to its soon-to-be-digested meal. Its happy face turned to one of shock after seeing that all of its food was gone. “Chespin?!” Chespin exclaimed. The Chespin searched everyone for its food, gaining a few looks from its fellow Pokémon. It searched for any trace of its missing but could not find anything, not even a crumb. It looked towards all of the other Pokémon, thinking that one of them may have stolen it. This commotion gained Fluttershy’s attention as she exited her home and made her way to the backyard. “What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked. Chespin ran up to her with its empty bowl in its hands. “Chesp. Pin Pin. Chespin.” Chespin said, waving around its bowl. “Your food was stolen?” Fluttershy asked, surprised at any kind of theft near her home. Down on at Sweet Apple Acres, all was quiet with the exception of a few snores heard from Winona and Chomper on the front porch. With the extra hold added to the Apple family’s workload, they had more time to relax and enjoy some breakfast. There was some movement in one of the apple trees, which caught the dogs’ attention. They rose to their feet after sniffing the air, catching whiffs of two smells that were not familiar to them. The two barked in the direction of the moving tree just before seeing two moving objects leave the tree. From their positions, they could only catch glimpse of something jumping from tree to tree and something else gliding in the air. The two of them began barking at the fleeing objects. “What’s goin’ on out there?” Applejack opened the door after hearing the two dogs barking at something. She looked and one of the apple trees was completely stripped of the fruit. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem on the apple farm, but she knew that this tree was not one of the apples bucked yesterday. So the question on her mind was: Where did the apples go? At Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery and confectionery of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was hard at work making sweets. Ever since the appearance of the shapeshifter, she has been planning a Welcome to Ponyville party for him but has been backed up by orders. She gets closer and closer to her goal before another order is placed. The increasing orders were a deterrent, but it was nothing the pink made could handle. She was just putting the finishing touches on a plate of muffins to be delivered today. All that was needed was to place them in a basket to cool down. The mare turned away from the muffins, not noticing the back door slide open while looking for a basked. While searching for a few minutes, she finally found a basket and was about to grab the muffins. It came as a surprise to see all of the muffins gone and the back door opened. “My muffins! Call the police!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Within the Everfree forest, a few explosions were heard as a battle was in progress. A closer inspection of the battle would see that Shinji was battling a small Pokémon. It was weaving its way around his punches and delivering small hits of its own. It was a small, blue, canine Pokémon. It had a black torso and legs, a blue tail, and a yellow collar. It had rounded bumps on the backs of its forepaws. It had a black "mask" and red eyes. It stood on its toes instead of its entire foot. It has developed two black appendages that hang down from its head. This was just another one of Tom and Shinji’s training sessions. After learning that he took a job at the apple farm, Shinji decided that they could train on days he was not working, with an increase in their training regiment. With no way out of it, Tom had to accept his sensei’s proposal. So, now the two of them are out in the forest practicing, while Pikachu is off the side resting. “Don’t get too overconfident, Tom. In your last battles, you’ve been lucky but luck runs out. Always keep a calm mind in the heat of battle.” Shinji said, hurling a few Fire Punches his way. “I know,” Tom said, narrowly dodging his punches, only getting a few scratches. He continued to dodge his array of punches while dealing a little damage. Before another punch could make contact, he pushed his foot off Shinji’s arm and did a reverse backflip away from him. When he was at a good enough distance, he reeled his arms to his side and fired a wind beam from the palm of his hands. The multiple blasts of wind created a dust cloud when they hit Shinji. For a second, Tom thought he had him, only until he saw the legendary fighter rush out of the cloud and appear before him. He didn’t even have a second to think before he was punched in the gut. Pikachu cringed when seeing the wind knock out her friend. Tom got on his knees, clutching his stomach from the pain he was feeling. Shinji stood over him and said, “Your mind wasn’t calm.” “Yeah. I can sense that.” Tom said, trying to rub the pain away from his stomach. “Never forget you have what only a minimum number of Pokémon have: the power to transform. This power makes you unpredictable to your opponent and will be most useful in the coming battles. But if you lose focus, then that won’t matter. You’re already defeated.” Shinji said to his student. “I’ll be sure to remember,” Tom said, taking what his Sensei said to heart. “We’re finished for the day. Come back tomorrow so we can resume.” Shinji said before turning his back and walking into the forest. Tom sighed, before falling onto his back, colliding with the ground from total exhaustion to near death, metaphorically speaking. They have been training since before the sun had risen from the sky and did not stop until just now. Shinji had heard about Tom's battle with Skarmory the other day and he was not pleased after hearing how the battle ended. To him, Tom had bearly won that battle, only winning because of his transforming power and Tom had to admit he was right. Would he have survived that battle or any of the others if he wasn't able to change into another Pokemon? Is he worthy to be Shinji's pupil? Was he even good enough to stop this looming force that threats everything good in Equestria? All these questions flooded his head and he could not find an answer. Pikachu pulled him out of his thoughts when he heard her walk up to him. When she stood over him, she looked down at his exhausted state, "Are you okay, Tom?" "Y-Yeah, of course, I am. Just taking a minute's rest." Tom said through each of his deep breaths. “You know, you could always tell him to go easy on you. Training doesn’t always have to be tough all the time.” Pikachu said. “Maybe, but the more I train, the better I’ll perform when I come across a tiny opponent.” Tom said, moving to a seated position. “But you’re not alone in this fight.” Pikachu assured. She walked around him and grabbed his paws. “You know you can always count on me.” “Of course, I can count on you, but if I don’t become strong, then I’ll lose everyone I care about, even you.” He said with the added blush to his face. His kind words brought a surprised look to her face as a touch of red appeared. She didn’t know that he was working so hard so she could protect her. Her heart was racing after feeling something flutter inside her stomach. It was by then that the two Pokémon noticed that they were still holding paws. The two of them looked at each other in the eyes and began slowly inching towards each other. Just as their mouths were just mere inches from one another… A sound resounded behind them, stopping the two from what they were about to do and they snap to reality as they noticed their faces were so close, causing them to blush and move away. They looked behind them and saw the sound was from their treasure bag. It was sprawled out on the ground with nearly all of their berries and scarves missing. All over Ponyville, there were rampant acts of theft from many homes and businesses. Many varieties of food were stolen from restaurants, supermarkets, even the vendors’ stands. There were no clear sightings of the thief or thieves committing these thefts and that worried the townsfolk. Every pony was on the look out for the ones responsible, showing little results for their progress. Even Twilight and the rest of her friends were trying to figure these acts of theft and they weren’t having much luck. “We have to find whoever’s done this.” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re tellin’ me. I lost dozens of apples from my trees. That’s a whole weeks worth of effort stolen from me.” Applejack stated, stomping her hoof in frustration. You think you have it bad. All the muffins I was baking vanished right under my nose, like they were ghosts.” Pinkie Pie added, making a few ghost sounds. “And some of the food I made for my animal friends disappeared. Now, they’re all upset.” Fluttershy said, depressed at the thought of all her friends losing their food. Twilight groaned while hearing all her friend continue to complain. “Calm down, Everypony. We have to figure out who is committing all of these thefts.” “Do we know anything?” Spike chimed. “No. All of the places stolen from were random.” Twilight brought up a map of a Ponyville with multiple X’s on various buildings. “This is a map of every location that was stolen from.” “Is there a pattern to these stealings? Maybe their a pony’s idea idea of a prank.” Rarity suggested. “No. There are no similarities to the places that the thief stole from. And I considered it to be a prank, but if it was then they would have admitted to it by now. There’s still something we’re missing, but what?” Twilight said. She and the rest of her friends were stumped with this problem. The door suddenly opened, catching all the ponies and dragon by surprise when they saw a Riolu and Pikachu in the doorway. “I’d like to figure that out myself.” Tom chimed. “Tom. Somepony stole from you too, darling?” Rarity asked. Tom nodded his head. “Yep. Nearly all of our berries are gone, plus most of our scarves, bows, bands and some of the Cacnea spikes.” He said, opening his treasure bag and showing over half of its items gone. “Oh you poor thing. Fluttershy said, picking up Tom in her hooves and scratching the back of his head. He was about to protest before stiffening in surprise after feeling this new sensation. "I’m sorry you lost your things. It’ll all be okay.” Fluttershy consoled, wishing she could do more for the downtrodden Pokémon. As much as he wanted to move his body, it was frozen by what he was feeling and he did not mind. By instinct, his tail began to wag, willing it to stop despite how good the scratching behind his ear felt. His right leg twitched when he desperately kept his tail straight out, giving light thumps to the ground. This entire sight did not go unnoticed by the others in the room, some holding back a chuckle while seeing their friend being treated like a baby. Although, some of them were jealous, wishing that they were the ones holding him instead of Fluttershy. "Enjoying yourself?" Pikachu asked with a snicker. "N-No," Tom answered, gritting his teeth to try not to pant in exhilaration. "Then why is your tail wagging?" Pikachu said, pointing a paw to her friend’s wagging limb. Tom winced, seeing his tail wagging from the head rubs, so he broke free from the Pegasus’s grasp and grabbed it. His face was turning beet red while hearing faint sounds of his friends laughter. “Alright. Time to stop!” he exclaimed. A few seconds later, his tail wagging finally stopped and he took a few deep breaths before looking back up. He looked back at his laughing electric friend, only to see her whistling, like nothing ever happened. With a sigh, Tom decided to let the moment pass and move on. He asked, So, what do you know about these robberies.” “Nothing really. There have been no clear sightings of the perpetrators.” Rarity said. “And there is no pattern to what they’re taking. Everything is all random.” Twilight added. “HmmMmm.” Tom thought as he walked up to the map on the wall and scanned each area that was burgled. Many thoughts were racing through his mind to figure out what to do next. While looking thinking, a thought may have sprung to mind. This did not go unnoticed by the others. “Have ya figured somethin’ out? Applejack asked. “Maybe. I think a Pokémon may be responsible for these thefts.” Tom said, bring shocked expressions to everyone’s faces. “What? That’s not possible.” Fluttershy said. “None of the Pokémon would ever do such a thing.” “Maybe none of the Pokémon you’ve seen but there are a lot of different species out there. Some of them act in completely different ways than other species.” Tom said, bringing a frown to the mares face as her ears dropped down. Tom knew why someone like Fluttershy would not believe that any animal would do something bad like stealing. “But, how do you know it’s a Pokémon stealing food? Can you see into the future?” Pinkie Pie , giddy at the thought of having an ESP friend. “No. On the way here, I heard some of the places stolen from had their windows and doors open. And a few others were out in the open outside. Some Pokémon are pretty fast and could go unseen when they want to be. Knowing all this, it only makes sense for one to be the thief.” Tom explained his reasoning. “Why would a Pokémon do this?” Spike wondered. “I don’t know. Pokémon can be unpredictable at times. One reason could be they were hungry, while another reason could be they were stealing for someone else. The reasons are endless. Right now, all that matters is finding those responsible, which means it’s time to start.” Tom said, confusing his friends. “Time for what?” Rainbow Dash asked. There were all curious what he was going to do. A light suddenly surrounded Tom’s body, signifying he was transforming. They all watched his body change shape and turn into a smaller form. A small paw reached into the treasure bag during the metamorphosis and pulled out some articles of clothing. When the transformation ended, the ponies saw what Tom had turned into and gushed at how adorable he looked. He was a Pikachu, like his friend, only with a lightning bolt shaped tail. And he was wearing a brown hat and a cape, while holding a magnifying glass in his paw. “It’s Detective Time!” Tom said, strike a pose in detective attire. The girls were simply gushing after seeing Tom in his adorable detective’s outfit. Seeing him as a Pikachu made him cute enough, but him looking like a detective pushed his cuteness over the rough. “Oh, you look darling in the outfit. Wherever did you get it?” Rarity wondered, admiring the small rodent’s attire. “I found a few days ago in the forest. It was just lying in the ground and no one claimed it, so I kept.” Tom said, before be picked up and hugged by Fluttershy. “Oh, you are just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.” Fluttershy said, hugging him close to her face, embarrassing him even more than before. “But are you really gonna find the one’s responsible? Are you even qualified to be a detective?” Twilight wondered. “I may not be an official investigator, but I have real instincts that make me qualified to find these thieves. It’ll take a Pokémon to catch another Pokémon.” Tom said from his constricting position. He looked up toward the yellow Pegasus and asked, “Fluttershy, could you take me to your home? I’d like to inspect the crime scene.” The mare was pulled out of thoughts and looked down at the electric mouse in her grasp. When she realized what she was doing, she realized while trying to hide her blush. She said, “Of course, Tom. Follow me.” Tom and Fluttershy left the library, with Pikachu right behind them, and began walking to the animal cottage. The first stop of the Pokémon detective was the home of the yellow pegasus. He was hoping to learn something from one of the Pokémon staying there, but was not getting all he hoped for. “You have to find those food snatchers! They took all of my food, none of which I got a chance to eat! I want you to find them and make them sorry they were ever born!” Chespin said, rambling on for the last four minutes. He has been going on and on after hearing that Tom was investigating the missing food. Tom sighed as the grass Pokémon continued to ramble on in his rants. He turned to Pikachu and said, “Hold this, please.” He handed her his magnifying glass, which she accepted. When he gave it to her, he walked up to the angry Chespin. “And when you get done with them, I want them to give me 10X the amount of food-“ The Chespin was interrupted in his rants after receiving a slap to the face from Tom. Another slap followed after that one. And another. There was series of slaps making contact with the Chespin’s face. Fluttershy and Pikachu were wincing at the sight of Chespin being slapped by the other Pikachu. As much as he was talking, even Chespin did not deserve to be slapped so many times. After a minute went by, Tom stopped slapping the Spiny Nut Pokémon. “Now, I understand you’re distraught after having your food stolen. Believe me, I know what that’s like, but I can’t help you if you don’t answer my questions. Okay?” Tom said. The Chespin was rubbing his swollen cheeks that were red from all the slaps. “Okay.” He said. “Good. Now, tell me everything that happened.” Tom asked the injured grass type. “Well, I was eating my morning breakfast right over there like always.” Chespin said while pointing his paw to a spot in the backyard. “Then, when I looked away for a second, all my food was gone!” Tom nodded his head, taking in every detail he heard from the Pokémon. He walked up to the area Chespin was pointing at, hoping to find some sort of clue. There was nothing out of the ordinary from Chespin’s spot. A few blades of grass were out of place, but they were just from all the animals and Pokémon moving around. His eyes soon came across something in the grass. Some of the blades were burning away, like something was dropped on the ground. He inspected the grass and caught the scent of a bug type. None of the bug types there were what he smelled, so what was he smelling? “Did you find something?” Pikachu asked, walking to her friend’s side. “Maybe. What I found could be a clue, but it’s too early to say.” Tom said, standing up from his spot. “Let’s go to the next place.” After leaving Fluttershy’s home, he and Pikachu made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres. Before the two could start their investigation, they were block led by an obstacle. “We don’t you help. Everything that happens on this farm is our responsibility.” Chomper said, baring his fangs at the detective. “Really? Does that also mean you’re responsible for thieves taking apples on your watch?” Tom said, earning growls from the canine. “You’re pushing me too far, rat! And when I’m pushed, I push back!” Chomper said, starting to get angry from Tom’s words. “That suits me just fine.” Tom said, getting in the Growlithe’s face, beginning to growl himself. Pikachu sighed at the two male Pokémon fighting one another. She stepped up and separated the two. She said, “This isn’t about the two of you. It’s about finding the thieves that stole from our friends. Right?” Pikachu looked at Tom with a stern look, which had great effect. “Right.” Tom grumbled. Pikachu the looked at Chomper with the same glare, which took him off guard before he turned away. “Fine. Just get over with your investigation, then get out of here.” Chomper said before going back to his spot on the front porch with the sleeping Winona. With that out of the way, Tom began his investigation. There wasn’t much he found around the farm, besides the various Applelin that were walking about the farm. He asked a few of them if they saw anything out of the ordinary, but none of them were helpful. While searing for clues, Tom caught whiff of something in one of the trees. He took off his clothes and climbed up the trunk. When he made it to one of the branches, he found a few footprints in the trees. The only problem was they were from Pokémon that he has not met. “Have you found something, Tom?” Pikachu asked from the below the tree. “Yeah. A few footprints where a lot of apples should be. Some Pokémon must be good at climbing to have made it up here without making a sound.” Tom said, admiring the thieves stealth skills. “Can you identify them?” Pikachu asked. “No. Their from Pokémon I haven’t met before, plus I don’t have much skill in identifying footprints.” Tom said. “That’s a surprise!” Chomper said from his sleeping spot. Tom just grumbled at the dog before jumping down from the tree branch. “There’s nothing more we can do here. Let’s head to Sugarcube Corner.” Tom said. Their next stop was to Pinkie’s job at the pastry shop. When he first saw the place, he thought he was walking into a fairytale home come to life. But he remembered where he was so he just ignored it and went on with his investigation. “So, where was your muffins stole from, Pinkie?” Tom asking the Pinkie Pie, while standing in the kitchen. “It was right here. I was in the middle of making sweet treats for a party when they disappeared out of nowhere. How strange is that?” Pinkie Pie asked while busy at work, making new muffins. “Pretty strange, Pinkie. Do you know where they could have entered from?” Tom asked. “I have no idea how they could’ve entered here. This shop is a fortress. No pony could enter here without me knowing it.” Pinkie said before pouring batter into a pan and putting it into the oven. “But I’s check the back door.” She pointed her hoof at the door in the back of the kitchen. Tom mentally slapped himself after not noticing the most obvious entryway. He and Pikachu opened the door and found themselves in the back of the building. There was nothing but a few trash cans and nothing else. “Nothing. I’d figure we’d find at least another clue.” Tom said, inspecting the area. “Tom. Look, more footprints.” Pikachu said, gaining the other Pikachu’s attention. It was true. What she found was indeed footprints, and these were different from the ones at Sweet Apple Acres. There were skinnier than the other prints and looked more reptilian. “Great job, Pikachu. Another clue found.” Tom complemented his electric friend, earning a small blush to her face. “Let’s continue our search for more clues.” After leaving the candy shop, the two detectives began inspecting every other place that was burgled by the unknown Pokémon. Each place had various clues for them: footprints, scratch marks, loose fur. While they were all helpful in this endeavor, it didn’t lead the two any closer to finding the thieves. It’s already been 3 hours of going door to door to every house, restaurant, and store and the two electric mice are still no closer to their suspect. “We still haven’t found our thieves. We’re out of clues and locations.” Tom said, with his arms crossed. “Don’t let this get you down. I’m sure we’ll find them soon.” Pikachu said, trying to lift up her friend’s spirits. “I know. But these clues haven’t depicted who is committing these thefts. How are we gonna stop them if there are no more clues?” Tom wondering if these thieves were too good for him to catch. “Did you say something about thefts?” The two electric types stopped in their tracks to find who was talking to them. They searched and found a group of Pokémon were in front of them. One of them was a Snivy with a red band around its neck. The second was a bipedal Pokémon resembling a chimpanzee. Its fur was primarily a shade of orange, though its face, outer ears, underbelly, hands, and feet were light yellow. Its ears were large in comparison to its head size and red inside. It has two pointed teeth in its upper jaw. It had red markings nearly surrounding its eyes, a swirl-like symbol on its chest, and five fingers on its hands with three toes on its feet. It had a swirly crest of hair on its head. Around its neck was a blue ribbon. The other was a pinniped Pokémon that was primarily blue. It had large eyes, a long, white snout with black whiskers, and a round, pink nose. There is a small, rounded earflap on each side of its head. Around its neck is a light blue ruff, which extends past its shoulders. It has four flippers. The front flippers are larger than the hind and have white markings separating its toes. On its head was a red bandana with a star pattern. Tom and Pikachu were on guard from the sudden appearance of the trio of Pokémon. He said “Yeah. What’s it to you?” “We’ve been sent after hearing the rash of robberies in this town.” Snivy said with a female voice. “You were sent here?” Pikachu asked, confused by the answer. “Yes. We were sent by the Wigglytuff Guild to catch all of the thieves and return all of the items taken from the Pokémon.” Popplio said with a male voice. “Guild?” Tom asked, suspecting he could mean something he did not expect to find in this world. “Of course. We’re a Rescue Team that enter dungeons to search for treasure and fight bad Pokémon. We’re called Team Elemental.” Chimchar said, sounding female with a brazen attitude. She and the other two pulled out a winged badge from behind their backs. Tom couldn’t believe that this world not only has Pokémon, but also guilds and rescue teams. And hearing the fire chimp talk, there were most likely mystery dungeons too. It was all too much for Tom’s already cramped brain to handle. “So, you’re a rescue team?” Tom asked. “Yes. My name is Eve, and this is Blaze and Finn.” Snivy said, gesturing towards herself and the other Pokémon. “Nice to meet you. My name is Tom and this is Pikachu.” Tom introduced himself and his electric mouse friend. “Why are you here?” “Guild master Wigglytuff heard there was some Pokémon stealing in a few villages. When we heard there were more thefts in this pony village, we thought it could be connected.” Finn explained. “Have you found any clues?” Tom asked the rescue team. “No. The thieves are too good and have left little to no tracks behind. We heard two Pikachu were searching for the thieves as well and hoped you had found something.” Eve said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t found anything. We’ve been to every place burgled and are not any closer to finding them.” Tom said before seeing the rescue team sigh. “Great. Now, we’re back to no more leads. If only there was something we could do to track them down.” Blaze said beating her fist to her other hand out of frustration. A thought had crossed Tom’s mind. What if they could track the thieves? And not simply by their scents or the footprints left behind. There was another way they could find the thieves and everything they stole. “That’s it.” Tom said, gaining looks from all four Pokémon. “What’s it?” Finn asked, curious what the electric mouse could be thinking. “We could track the thieves with smell.” Tom said, pointing his paw to his nose. “But none of their scents aren’t strong enough to track.” Eve said, confused at what his plan was. “Not the thieves, the food. If we could track all of the stolen food, then it will lead us to the thieves.” Tom explained. “How are we supposed to track the food? None of our noses are strong enough to catch the scents.” Blaze said, thinking that Tom was insane. How could he possibly find all of the stolen food? “Maybe you can’t, but I can.” Tom said before his transforming aura surrounded his body and he began taking a new shape. The three Pokémon did not understand what was happening and remained silent while watching this unfold. Once the light was gone, the Pikachu standing before the rescue team was replaced with another Pokémon. What Tom changed into was a teal Pokémon with a cream spot on his chest. His round head was teal in the top half and cream on the bottom half. He had big, round eyes and large pointy ears. He had five-fingered hands and cream feet with three clawed toes. The fur close to the bottom seemed to resemble a dress. He had two pointy teeth that stick out of his mouth. “You’re a… Munchlax?!?” Blaze exclaimed, questioning the new evolution In front of her eyes. “How did you do that? Pikachu can’t learn Transform. Are you really a Ditto in disguise?” Finn asked. “I can answer you questions later. Right now, I have to focused.” Tom closed his eyes and focused his energy in his nose. He took a big whiff and caught many scents in the air. Some scents of a few foods in homes caught his attention but it wasn’t what he was looking for. In his entire life, he never thought he’d be sniffing for this long, but it was necessary to find the missing food. After a few more whiffs, he finally caught the scents of a large assortment of food with the scents he got from the previous locations. “Got them.” Tom said before taking off running in the direction of the food. Pikachu and Team Elemental quickly followed by the shapeshifter, not knowing where he was leading them. Pikachu trusted Tom’s instincts, but the others were unsure if he knew what he was doing. Without any other leads to follow, they decided to at least give him a chance. Somewhere in Ponyville park, running in the area near the trees and bushes, there were four Pokemon laughing as they jumped into the bushes, avoiding the chasing ponies. The first creature they saw was a bipedal, mammalian Pokémon that resembled a young panda. Its head and short, puffy tail are white. It has a triangular black nose, rounded black ears, black circles around its eyes, and tufts of fur on top of its head and on each cheek. Its upper body and hind feet are black, while the lower body is dark gray. Where the two colors meet the dark gray forms a three-pointed pattern on its chest. There are three digits on each paw and small, dark brown circular pads on the soles of its black hind paws. Pancham carries a small, green leaf in its mouth. The other standing beside it was a bivalve or snail-like Pokémon. Its gray shell resembled a knight's visor, with a coiling spiral of its shell further back. The shell has protrusions on the underside, which it apparently uses as legs. Its inner body is pink with a long, puckered mouth, and green markings below its eyes. The third was a short, quadrupedal Pokémon with a long snout and tail. Its body was mostly light brown with the exception of black stripes crossing over and under its legs and its pink underbelly. It had a black stripe on its snout in front of its eyes, and black covering the tip of its tail. Its eyes resembled shaded binoculars and are shrouded in a black membrane all around its front. Its long snout was tipped by two protruding nostrils, and its mouth comprised the bottom half. Its feet were flat and contained three sharp, black claws. They were attached to stubby legs on their sides. The fourth creature was a white, rodent-like Pokémon resembling a flying squirrel. It has black eyes, a tiny nose, and yellow cheek patches. It can create electricity on the electric sacs located on its cheeks and store electricity inside its membranes. Its ears, positioned at the top of its head, are rounded in shape and black in coloration, with yellow and white sections of coloration on the inside of its ears. It sports a vaguely hood-like patterning of black around its head, with a spiky extension of the pattern above its face. It has yellow winglike flaps connected to its three-fingered arms. Its feet are white and fairly small and its black tail is in a jagged shape. “We scored another great haul," the Emolga said, clearly the only female out of the four. "Oh yeah, we sure did," Pancham said, laughing while pulling out food and valuable items. The Sandile dug into the bag and pulled out a few scarfs and berries. “These are prime items. We’d have to go into a dungeon to find these.” “Be careful, Sandile. If you eat those then the boss will be mad, and none of us want to see him mad.” Shelmet said. All of them shuttered after thinking of angering their boss. “Well, after we finish this job, we’ll finally be free of the blowhard.” Pancham said. "Let's just worry about getting our goods to the boss before someone finds them," Emolga said, the others nodding in agreement. As they all their loot in their sacks, sounds of footsteps were heard coming down the road. Peeking through the brush, they saw a Munchlax coming down the path with four other Pokémon following behind it. Tom stopped, closed his eyes and focused on finding the stolen food. After getting closer to the smell he was picking up, he caught a whiff of something only a few feet from where he stood. Scanning the area, he caught the scent of a lot of food smells, unknown Pokémon and some of his stolen items. His eyes quickly snapped open as he turned his head in the direction of one bush. With a quick turn of his feet, Tom dashed toward the scents, with a raised Focus Punch. One lace he was close enough, he jumped through the leaves and punched forwards, colliding with a hard surface in his path. A closer inspection told him it was the shell of a Shelmet that he hit. It collided with the tree, making a few leaves fall from the branches. As Tom turned around, Pikachu and the rescue team jumped into the bushes to join the battle. Eve said, “Hand over all of the stolen goods. If you do not surrender, then you’ll be dealing with Team Elemental!” She and her other team members showed them their badges. "A rescue team!?" Sandile squeaked. The four thieves were scared that a rescue team appeared to capture them. Eve demanded again, "This is your second and only warning: Surrender now, or things get rough." She squinted her eyes to emphasize her words. "Run for it!" Emolga yelled, grabbing her bag and took off running with the rest of her group following right behind her. “Hey! Get back here!” Blaze exclaimed, taking off running with her teammates, Tom and Pikachu following close behind. This chase took them across Ponyville, with them dodging various ponies, while trying to keep pace with each other. The thieves tried to create obstacles to slow down their pursuers, like firing off attacks to thrown them off, only to end with negative results. The chase soon took them into the Everfree forest with the thieves using the trees to increase their speed. This did not help them as the five Pokémon behind them were quickly gaining speed on them. Seeing this occur, Emolga acted quickly and powered up an attack. “Get away!” Emolga said, firing a Hidden Power attack at her pursuers. The green orb flew toward the five Pokémon and exploded onto the ground, creating a small dust cloud. It was all the thieves needed to escape from being captured. This took them off guard for a second before the dust cleared. It took the five by surprise that their targets were gone, but Tom still had their scents locked in his nose so they followed him. Tom led the Pokémon through the woods, carefully trekking through the bushes and around the trees. They soon came a Forest area where he caught a whiff of the four Pokémon they were pursuing. It was an area with different trees, than in the Everfree forest with an open path deeper in the forest. “Where did they go?” Pikachu asked. Eve looked ahead and nodded her head at both of her teammates. She said, “I think they went into this Mystery Dungeon.” "A Mystery Dungeon?" Tom asked. “Yes. This is the Wanderer’s Grove. It’s home to many Normal, Grass, Bug and Dark types. A few Virus Digimon call this place home awe well.” Popplio explained. Tom was confused after hearing the word ‘Digimon’, but put that thought aside. “Then it’s the best place to find those thieves. Let’s go.” Tom said, walking towards the entrance only to be stopped by a vine from Eve. “Look, you’ve been a big help to us in locating the thieves, but now it’s time for us to take of things here.” Snivy said. “But we can help bring those Pokémon in.” Tom added. “Maybe you could, but we’re a qualified rescue team. It’s our job to do this. You haven’t seen much action than we have.” Blaze boasted. “…Although, we’ve only been a team for two weeks.” Finn mumbled, earning a grunt from the Chimchar right beside him. Tom watched as the three Pokémon were about to enter the Mystery Dungeon. As much as he wanted to, they were right. He has never entered a Dungeon before and there was no telling what could be in there. But as scared as he was, he could not turn away from this. He didn’t turn away from Feraligator. He didn’t turn away from the Manticore. He didn’t turn away from Skarmary. And he’s not turning away now. “Listen, I know we just met, but I’ve been through a bunch of tough battles. I realize that a Mystery Dungeon is dangerous but that’s not a reason for me to turn away. Those four stole from my friends and I’m not going to let them get away from that. If you give us a chance, then I know we won’t let you down.” Tom said, with a determined look on his face alongside Pikachu. The Elementals looked towards the Munchlax after hearing him speak. They saw the look in his eyes and could tell he’s seen his share of battles. Eve sighed and said, “Fine. If you want to follow, we can’t stop you. Just remember, you made this choice.” Tom was glad that they allowed him and Pikachu to follow them into the dungeon. Before entering, he grabbed something for him and Pikachu that’ll help them. He gave Pikachu a Defense Scarf to raise her defense and he wore a Joy Ribbon raise in experience after taking damage. That was something he could really use when he’s training with Shinji. Once they were ready, the Pokémon team entered through the forest path into the Mystery Dungeon.