((LET IT BEGIN!! LET IT BEGIN!!))

MadderJanobii, Madder_Hatter, and OcarinaCypher
Exploration Team Moonlight Madness
Teleporting into Discovery Town Square
Affected RP'ers: @Neo Emolga @Gef @The Nonexistent Tazz @Morzone @LKWayvern @Velocity

A loud bell tolled throughout Discovery Town. Many players raised their heads to the sound before suddenly being warped to the square in the center of the town. Cypher was the first to warp, the panic easily readable in his eyes as his body started to disappear. Shouts rose up from other players as they were suddenly whisked away from the Kangeskhan rock. A stampede started to form as the remaining players attempted to flee, only to be snatched up as well. With Cypher already gone, Sloane and Brent attempted to flee as well, sprinting as best they could. Brent, however, had a much better graph on his character's movements, and leaving Sloane behind. The little cyndaquil tried her best to keep up, only to find herself suddenly get pushed down as a pancham forced its way through the crowd. Sloane tumbled to the ground and immediately covered her head as best she could as paws, hooves, claws, and other appendages beat down around her. Most pokemon managed to avoid her until a ponyta came rushing through and slammed straight into Sloane. She was sent flying, landing into a nearby pond. Sloane immediately began to flail around as terror set in. Swim! SWIM!! But she couldn't! It was odd but she didn't know how to swim, at least not in this body! It was as if the game's programming was suppressing her ability to! Sloane's lungs screeched for air and she couldn't take it anymore, her cyndaquil instincts taking over and forcing her to breathe. Water rushed in and she began to cough, only worsening the situation. She was drowning. As the realization set in, Sloane felt her vision closing in and darkness swelling around her. In all the ways Sloane had imagined dying, drowning in a video game had never been something she had considered. Slowly, she stopped flailing, sinking until she hit the bottom of the pond. However, just as she had given up, light erupted around her and her body began to disappear. Was she dying? Is that what those lights meant? She was consumed by them quickly, receiving her answer as she plopped down on the ground in the center square next to Cypher. Sloane sputtered and coughed, soaking wet and feeling nauseous.

"Janobii!" Cypher cried, patting her back as she coughed up a puddle of water. "Doctor! Doctor! Does anyone here know any healing moves? Please! My friend's hurt!" A cherubi pushed her way through the crowd and rushed over to Sloane.

"I know heal pulse! I received it as my egg move!" she cried as she touched her smaller cherry to Sloane's head. She closed her eyes and a pink aura covered both she and Sloane. As the move's healing effects transferred to Sloane, her breathing slowly evened out, and she visibly relaxed. Sloane looked at the cherubi and nodded her thanks. The cherubi smiled and stepped back, allowing Sloane some room.

“Janobii, are you feeling better?” Sloane looked up at Cypher, the concern swimming in his eyes. The cyndaquil smiled back up at him and nodded her head.

“Yeah, Cypher, I’m fine, I think,” she responded quietly, shaking herself off a little to get rid of the water clinging to her fur. Brent pushed himself through the crowd, dashing over to Sloane.

“Thank the lord, you're okay! I lost sight of you and then got swept away! I didn't know what to do until I heard Cypher yelling. What happened?”

“I… was drowning. I got knocked into a pond and couldn't swim. It was… abnormal. Like I know how to swim but my body doesn't, so I couldn't. If I hadn’t been teleported, I'd surely have drowned.”

Silence settled on the crowd around Sloane. That wasn't something anyone had seemed to anticipate. And with a variety of users having log off and respawn issues, there was no telling what would have happened had she not been saved. Cypher looked as if he was going to pose another question when a loud booming voice echoed throughout the square.

“Welcome Challengers of Fate!” A bright light shown above the square. Above the bell tower stood none other than Arceus itself. “I am Arceus, and I have to bestow upon you great news! Each and every one of you has been selected-” Suddenly, Arceus's figure began to change. The golds in the color palette shifted to blacks and the greens to crimson. Arceus's rings twisted, growing larger and becoming thorny in appearance, almost demonic-like. "T̷̡̛̫̝̲͎̍ͦ͋ͭͮ̽̇̍ͦ͡o̴̢͉̯̙̻̳̥̞ͣ̈̉̐́͟ͅ ̧̤͍͎̮̜͎̬̭͕̍̿͐̋̊͌ͯ̎́̚͟ͅDͯͭͯ̐ͪ̃̂̄̑̆͑̿ͣ̍ͭͧ̊҉̯̜̳̮͜I͐̿ͣ ̵̷̛̯̙̮̮͚̗̹̲͙͇̬ͪ̐̏̓̒̀͘ͅḚ̜͈͖̮̻͕͉̭̖̄͂̆̌̇̅͜͠!̌̔ͫ̑͂̏ͧ̎ ̥̙̫͔͎̍͒̋ͪ͋̃͛̀ͩ͜͢͞͞͝" A dark aura began to cloud over the city, turning the beautiful blue sky into scarlet red. The buildings now seemed more damaged and crumbling, and all the ponds wreaked of boiling blood. The once picturesque city was now dressed like the entryway to hell. "I thank you all for signing up, but I regret to inform you that the game you have signed up for is not what you thought it was. Our staff has been contacted numerous times with complaints about the lack of a log out button and respawn issues. The fact simply is, they were never programmed." A murmur rippled across the crowd as Pokémon began to discuss what this meant. "So I advise you not faint in dungeon anymore. Why? Simple. You die." Cypher shifted uncomfortably, the news hitting dead on with his worries about Siber. "To minimize cheating, I decided that you would only be given one life, no save, no redo, one chance to win it all. And if you faint in dungeon? It's game over, simple as that. But then, couldn't you just sign up and rejoin your old team? Oh don't worry, I thought of that too. And how did I solve that? Simple really, it's game over in real life too." Several gasps erupted through the crowd. Sloane felt the blood drain from her face, unable to react, stunned to silence. That meant that Siber was… no! That couldn't be! "Yes yes! You die in real life as well! It was quite fun programming the system to administer the deaths too. Now you might be wondering, how on earth do you escape? Is there any possible way to do so? Why I'm glad you asked! But this answer won't be so simple. All you have to do is beat the game! But as the toughest Pokémon Mystery Dungeon yet, it won't be easy. I wish you luck, bad luck that is!" The arceus let out a wicked laugh before lightning struck him and he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Still, even with the threat gone, dread filled the air around them, suffocating many.

Sloane felt panic start to well up in her. She couldn't go home? Siber was dead! What do they do? What do they do? She started to hyperventilate when Brent tapped her back. The zorua looked at she and Cypher then said,

"Let's head back to the Keep. We'll register Cypher with us then grab as many missions as we can. Easy ones, but plentiful ones, that way we can level up quickly and maybe get a head start on this madness." Cypher and Sloane nodded in reply, and Cypher bent down to the two saying,

"Climb on my back, I'll get us there quicker if I carry you." Sloane didn't argue, climbing into the Type: Null's back with Brent close behind. Cypher began to force his way through the crowd, thankfully close to the edge and able to emerge on the side of the square closest to the Keep. Once he was out, Cypher began to pick up the pace, sprinting towards the guild before panic could ensue.