Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventurers of the Universe

Shaking Up the Wrong Tree

"Is this really where we have to train?" Zeke asks as he and Lani look up at the plateau that the Frogadier brought them to.

"No, we're training on Fire Island. Yes, of course we're training here. Fire Island is next week." Frogadier says.

"What's your name, anyways?" Lani asks as they enter a cave.

"Huh? Oh, I'm Adelno Realmseeker. I'm Nat's younger brother. Sorta. Eh, my life's complex, you don't want to hear about it."

"Okay, try me."

"No, I'm telling you that you don't want to hear about it. It'll take a long time. Like, three days if I talked nonstop. Let's just get training already, okay?"

"Alright. Wait- is this a Mystery Dungeon?" Zeke asks as the entrance disappears and the area looks very dungeon-like. "Of course it is. Right. This is literally what we signed up for."

"Yeah. Welcome to the - Dawn Plateau Cave - , the only way to the - Dawn Plateau Forest - up top. The dungeons aren't that long on our way to the training spot, so you'll be fine."

The three fight through a few wild Pokemon on their way up the plateau as they strive to reach the top. When they finally climb their last set of stairs, they're greeted with a Kangaskhan Rock and a forest in front of them. "Alright kiddos. Take a moment to rest and we'll head into the forest."

Lani and Zeke, exhausted from battling surprisingly strong enemies with levels in the mid-twenties, calm down and consume some Oran Berries and Elixirs they called upon from the Kangaskhan Rock. They finish up, send the cost of the meal to Kangaskhan, and tell Adelno that they're ready to enter the forest.

"Alright. The forest is two floors, but the enemies are tougher than before. You got your Wonder Maps?" Adelno asks as they proceed through the rest stop.

Zeke nods and takes out his map. "Good. You see the Gloom up ahead? It's leveled up enough to one shot you two. Let me take care of him." Adelno Bounces above the trees and says something from up above, but he's too far to hear. He then crashes back down and faints the Gloom. "The stairs are two rooms north and one room east."

They follow his directions and get to the stairs, which they climb to get to a tree-covered hilltop in the plateau center. Adelno Bounces again and navigates them to a vine-covered cave entrance. "Just a sec, guys." He studies the vines and then runs off, returning with a Steenee. "Thanks for coming with me. We're trying to get through this hidden path, but it's blocked by powder vines. Could you open the path up for us, please?" The Steenee agrees and she opens the path for the trio. "Thank you for your help. Here, have a hundred Poke. Have a good day."

They enter the cave and are greeted by a glowing white hole in front of the back wall of a small chamber. "This is one of the first entrances to another world that our guild discovered. This takes us to a place we've titled the 'Ultra Jungle'. While most of the world is an intense, dangerous jungle, the place that this wormhole takes us is calm. It's the top of an enormous tree, and has easy access to a plateau much like the one we're on. There's a relatively small tree there that we have cabins built around. We'll stay there for the next two days and train."

They enter the wormhole and are thrown onto the top of an enormous tree. "Oh, and don't approach the volcano here. Trust me when I say you don't want to. Come on now, let's go train."

"What's up with all of the swirls and holes in the trees here? Did a native Pokemon of this world do that?" Lani asks.

"No. That's from... uh... an old friend of mine." Adelno says through hesitation. "His Aura Spheres where really something else... Moving on! I want you two to hit this big tree with everything you've got. Zeke, you with this enormous tree with all your might, as though you were trying to shake it."

Zeke lookes at the giant tree towering above him and tackles it. Nothing happens to the tree. His head hurts a bit though.

"That's alright! It took months before I could shake this tree. Lani, you're up next."

Lani backs up to have more space to gain momentum. "Why are we hurting ourselves trying to shake this thing?"

"Uh... to build up your endurance? And to see if you can get stronger in the physical attack area simply by trying?"

"Okay, sounds good." Lani charges at the tree, then suddenly glows gold as she hits it. The tree shakes violently.

"Oh, Arceus. What's this?!" Adelno looks at the shaking tree. "When'd you learn to to that?"

"Do what?"

"Nothing.

"Okaaaay..." Lani says. "I think I just got record pace for shaking the tree. Is that good?"

Zeke stares at Lani in shock. Adelno groans. "I mean, it might be good? But the tree's never shaken this much. It might be bad..."

A huge Beedrill, much bigger than any Beedrill anyone's ever seen before, flies from behind the tree. Then twelve more follow. Lani gulps, "Eheh... sorry?"

Adelno grabs Lani and Zeke. "This isn't good..." He says as he takes off running. They pass by the portal. Zeke points to it. "Why don't we go back?"

"They'll follow us, Zeke. We don't want giant wild Beedrill flying around our world. They should stay here where they belong. I said we shouldn't go this way, but it looks like the only way to escape them." Adelno responds as they head towards the volcano. They climb up a few trees. then reach one that's connects to no other trees and has a great view of the volcano. The Beedrill swarm, which has nearly quadrupled in size, stops and stays away from them and the volcano. They hover in air several treetops away.

"Wh-what now?" Lani asks, voice shaky. "Th-there's nowhere l-left to go!"

"We wait and we pray." Adelno says, staring at the volcano.

The ground grumbles. The sky shakes. The trees tremble. The volcano erupts, and out of the lava comes a huge, muscular bug Pokemon. "Hyraaahhh!" It roars as it flexes its arms. It looks down at the three and makes eye contact with Adelno. It then jumps at a Beedrill and punches it in the face, sending it soaring into the distance.

Adelno glances at Lani and Zeke. "Let's go! Now!" They run across treetops as big Beedrill fall from the sky around them. They manage to reach the wormhole back, but the muscle bug gets there first. It stands in front of it and looks at them.

"The one with the power of the creator. You brought her here, Adelno. And it seems you didn't even know about it." Muscle Mosquito bellows, "So let me ask you this: Do you know which Ultra domains are safe to bring her? Because some Ultra Beasts will try and take her power. How do you know you can even trust me?" It looks at Lani.

"Because, Buzz... Uh... mmm... I just trust you. I just do, okay?! When Ario and I fought you here six years ago, you lost, and it felt like we connected back there. And with what you said after before going back to your intense heat training within the volcano, I couldn't not trust you." Adelno tried to explain.

"Well then. Ha. You've made your choice to trust me. And you are right to trust me, because what I'd said back then was true. Now, you may go home. And you, blessed one," Buzz looks at Lani, "Stay safe out there. Hyraaahhh!" Buzz jumps and dives back into his volcano.

The three go back through the wormhole and rest for a moment. Then, they head back to the guild and flop down on their beds. They go to sleep right then and there, not even eating dinner.

The next morning, Aeko asks Adelno why he and the AotU didn't show up in the Mess Hall, to which he replied, "Bugs." Aeko raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask for further detail.