Explorers of the Jump
“Oh, did someone catch the license plate of the car than ran me over?”
I sat and shook my head, then flopped back onto the sand…shoot wait it already started? I bolted upright and looked around. Ocean, beach, cave, the only thing missing was…
“Are you okay? I found you out cold on the sand.”
An introduction following the dialogue of the game later…telling Luke the Riolu that I was a human and not just a regular Froakie.
“Nice to meet you Sapphire, want to form an exploration team with me? We can join the Wigglytuff guild…since I’ve been too afraid to do before…”
He brought out his treasure which was then stolen by Zubat and Koffing who then fled into the cave. Why did they do that anyway? It would obviously lead to a dead end…
The tutorial dungeon was easy enough as I got accustomed to fighting as a Pokémon. Unlike in the game I could actually try and dodge which made things easier. Luke, despite thinking himself a coward did really well (probably because he was getting his treasure back).
We caught up and easily beat the two thieves who fled. Thus was the start of out adventures as Team Jump.
Shoot…just remembered how many bosses and legendary Pokémon we’ll have to deal with. There was also that thing with time and space travel too…oh boy…
Well, we joined the guild without any trouble. Wigglytuff was as friendly as I remember, which also meant Chatot was high strung. Luke almost got spooked away when Diglett identified him but I blocked the way.
Our first few explorations weren’t overly exciting (despite what Luke had hoped). Spoink was delighted when we returned their pearl. Most of the reward money was taken by the guild but that was to be expected since they provided training, food and board.
On the other hand, those two pokemon who had stolen Luke’s treasure were actually part of a team, Team Skull. I just know they are going to cause trouble…at least they have not done anything directly.
The two of us also made friends with the other members of the guild, such as Chimecho who was in charge of calling everyone together and Croagunk who was planning on opening a shop of sorts.
Like in the game as the player I can see the past and future of objects which lead to us rescuing Azurill from the outlaw Drowzee. The battle actually had some difficulty since Luke was susceptible to psychic attacks. I snuck in a few ice blasts when ran low on water attacks.
Luke reminded me that the world was turning strange, Pokémon could not evolve, dungeons were appearing and Time Gears were getting stolen and freezing time in certain areas. Someone (*cough* Grovyle) was going around and stealing them…wait what happened to his partner if I am here?
Am I going to follow along with plot or not? Probably yes, don’t want to risk things going worse than in the game. I should introduce Luke to the others soon and tell him about the jumps since I hope he will come as a companion.
Soon after, we were charged with exploring the Waterfall Cave. It was a fun experience, even if the guild master had already explored the place and forgotten about it. This also marked the ability to recruit wild Pokémon into the team.
“Luke, I have something to tell you after this exploration.”
“Okay?”
One explanation later…”So you are a human who travels through various worlds. You also have a team of other Pokémon with you.”
I nodded with some hesitance. “I figured now would be the best time to tell you. The team won’t be able to help out until later but Violet could probably give you some fighting tips.”
“Okay, that sounds great! I am coming along with you when you leave.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I was afraid that you would not want to…”
Fortunately Luke was an adventurer at heart and I helped him start a team. We might not have known each other for long but our bonds were strong. I was about to add that I had…something? Strange, my memory should be excellent but I have the oddest feeling…
Anyway, Luke and I continued on being a rescue team, delivering items, escorting clients and of course, rescuing Pokémon in dungeons. There were a few times when requests went missing but overall all was going smoothly.
The next part of the adventure had us meeting various other Pokémon: the three lake spirits and Dusknoir who was a famous explorer (also secretly a villain). We also helped Marill, Azurill’s brother get his float back, which involved battling a bunch of electric Pokémon. That had not been fun at all…
During this period, Team Jump collected enough rescue points to level up. The two of us made a great team, the purple and heal ribbons I had bought were so useful. Team Skull did make some trouble by stealing requests but nothing hard to deal with.
Dusknoir told me about Dimensional scream, which I had forgotten the name. On the other hand, I don’t think Dusknoir was suspicious of me. Then again when I first played the game, his heel turn was such a surprise (though in hindsight…).
Everyone helped lay a trap for Grovyle who was allegedly trying to destroy the world by stealing Time Gears, which succeeded. Then Dusknoir dragged Luke and I through the time portal, otherwise the world might be in jeopardy.
I hope the future is not worse than what was shown in the DS game…
The future world was still paralyzed despite the Time Gears being returned to their places because the Temporal tower was collapsing. Dialga had been corrupted into a Primal form that was trying to preserve this form.
All this important information was given through exposition through Grovyle after escaping out execution. Luke was a bit unsure but I signaled that we could trust the guy. The whole thing about being Grovyle’s companion was sort of resolved, I was not them but had the same name. I hope that after the future is fixed the two will be reunited.
We headed towards the Passage of Time in order to return to the present while being chased by Dusknoir and his minions. Celebi (who was pink instead of green) helped us out without Primal Dialga stopping us.
I did regret making things difficult for Grovyle but could not think of another way. Dusknoir had been an established and famous explorer while our Team was talented but still new. At least the truth had been revealed in the end.
Back in the present the only thing remaining was to take the Time Gears to the tower in the Hidden Lands. We learned from the town elder that the Relic Fragment was needed along with a corresponding inscription (which was Luke’s treasure). Wigglytuff told us that we had to go to Brine Cave.
We ended up rescuing Chatot and Team Skull from some outlaws before heading onwards. The cave was not so bad, Luke and I could deal with the rock and ground types. I used normal attacks against fellow water types, sort of tedious but it got the job done.
After a while we found the stone ship that would bring us to the tower, but had to deal with Dusknoir. He revealed that changing the future would erase them from existence, which was a worthy sacrifice according to Grovyle.
I was actually unsure if what happened to the player character would also happen to me. Dusknoir tried to attack while I was distracted but Grovyle pushed the two of them into the dimensional hole back to the future.
With Luke, the two of us ascended Temporal Tower, the hardest challenge yet. There were more floors and stronger wild Pokémon when compared to other dungeons. We tried to rush through the floors to save stamina, we would have to face Primal Dialga at the top.
I kept the part about temporarily separating since I did not want to give Luke false hope in case I was wrong.
It was a tough battle, I had to pull out a whole bunch of seeds from the treasure bag, but Primal Dialga was finally defeated. On the way back, I felt the effects and started to disappear..I wonder if Benefactor wanted to indulge in the drama.
I echoed words similar to the player character – to tell everyone about this so that history would not repeat itself. Luke was crying so much, he was a fully fledged explorer but also sort of a crybaby, right now at least.
I assume his grief touched Dialga and he did some restoration and time stuff since I reappeared on the beach where we first met. We hugged and with the sun setting and Bidoof nearby.
With that, the events of the game are now over…was there any post game content? I think I stopped after story was finished…well there are still around eight years to spend in this world. Plus the team can help out now and we can finally evolve.
Never mind, we still cannot evolve because we are “distorting space” (forgot about Palkia…sigh). Even outnumbered Luke and I passed the guild’s final exam, receiving a Perfect Apple as a reward, along with the location of the Luminous Spring for eventual evolution.
Our new base of operation was Sharpedo Bluff, a little distance from the town, it was a convenient location to access my warehouse. This was also a chance for the team to bond with each other.
A Scizor needed rescuing from a Froslass which resulted in out team getting a new team rank for some reason. We spent time otherwise hunting down gummies and stat boosting items in dungeons in preparation for leaving.
“Are you okay with leaving with me?”
“Of course, we are partners! Plus why would I give up the chance to explore other worlds?”
I checked again just in case, but our team bond would not be easily broken. Luke was friendly with all my other team members, he had fun sparring with Kyo and Violet. Sunflora from the guild told us about a new dungeon in the sea, which we explored and found an egg.
That egg hatched into a Manaphy. For whatever reason we had to feed it blue gummies but it became sick after a while. The team found a cure but it was best for Manaphy to live in the ocean with other water Pokémon.
It was sad but Manaphy did promise to visit sometimes. We also met Team Charm and managed to snag an invite to an exploration, Aegis Cave that involved Unown. Sounded like a prime spot for yet another encounter with either a boss or a legendary Pokémon.
I was right, and we had to fight and defeat all three Regis (steel, ice, stone) as well Regigigas and their henchmen. The fight would have been easier if we could evolve and get boosted health and stats.
Problems were not over yet, we got told in a dream by Cresselia (who I swore was a fake) told us we had to disappear lest the world get ruined (again). Then Pokémon were getting caught in nightmares. In order to solve the problem Team Jump had to find Palkia in the Spatial Rift, but no one knew how.
Thankfully? Palkia kidnapped us into that area. We also freed the legendary from a nightmare which was likely the reason behind the attack in the first place. Turns out the Cresselia that had been attacking us multiple times was actually Darkrai (who was the real villain behind everything). Made sense, Pokémon were getting afflicted with nightmares and we had met in dreams.
With Cresselia’s help (more like burden, since Darkrai is a dark type and she was psychic) we managed to defeat Darkrai. Hurray, any plot related stuff is now complete. With Palkia recruited the two of us can finally evolve!
The rest of the years were not as interesting or action packed. Dungeons still appeared so the rescue team was very active. I recruited some Pokémon and trained them as successors for when we would leave. I told the more trustworthy team members the truth about myself (sort of).
It did take a while to get accustomed to fighting as a Greninja after spending so long as a Froakie. At least I was not alone in the awkward transition phase. There were quite a few times I almost tripped but caught myself in time.
I did reach all of my goals: scarfed down a bunch of gummies (so did the rest of the team) and maxed out stats using the various vitamins. We weren’t at level 99 but in the 90s so it was close enough. I think this world needed more experience to max out level anyways.
Before we left , I made sure to have a going away party and a ceremony passing on leadership of the rescue team. There were a lot of Pokémon invited and I made sure to have favorite foods out (definitely did not forget the Perfect Apples for the guild master).
“Here we go Luke, onto the next adventure. Are you ready?”
“Yeah, so long as we are a team, we’ll be fine.”
With that the founders of Team Jump left for lands unknown, leaving a legacy of heroism behind. The two who had saved the future from destruction.
“Good job Claire.” Benefactor clapped his hands. “Most of it was scripted but charming nonetheless.”
“Thanks, I am still new at this. Luke, meet the Benefactor, the one who is sending me on these jumps through various worlds.”
“Nice to meet you.” Luke was polite as usual.
“As a reward for completing the jump, the two of you get human forms you can change into whenever you want. For Luke it will have a passing resemblance to his pokemon species. Good luck teaching him about being human!” With a jaunty wave, they left.
The two of us were forcibly changed into our human forms (with clothing on of course). Did Luke really need a course on being human, I did not think it was that complicated…wait would that include things like cooking and showering? Or…the talk?
Oh dear, I don’t think I ever got the talk from my parents. I learned about that sort of thing during health class (which did not cover everything). Cross my fingers that this does not turn into a disaster…better rope in the rest of the team too, they are definitely getting a human form as well very soon. There will be an import option that will give them human forms to blend in with the world.
At least I can talk with everyone without needing Kurama to act as a translator. I guess we won’t really need the mental bond for a while, except in emergencies.
“Luke, I think the easiest way to do this is for me to answer questions you have as they appear instead of a crash course. I think you should be able to easily change between forms at this point.”
Luke seamlessly shifted back to his Pokémon form. I stayed in my human once since it was more familiar than a frog ninja.
“Anything you want to eat? I’ll introduce you to a bunch of new foods…and probably explain utensils to you and the others.”
I also remembered to grab the next jump form. Fortunately I had a week to relax and get Luke settled in his room. The housing complex had shops and facilities that I needed to show him, as well as hand over his phone.
There was enough space on the fourth floor for Luke to room with the rest of my Pokémon companions. New companions would end up on the next floor I suppose.
Next was spending a decade in…Undertale. Would that be real time or cumulative? Would I even be able to tell? This could get confusing…and I am not looking forward to ever meeting Flowey.
Jump #3 – Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Document
Name: Sapphire
Location: Treasure Town (from the game Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
Initial Age: ???
Starter: Froakie (Greninja)
Moves: Water Shuriken, Night Slash, Double Team, Shadow Sneak, Extrasensory
Partner: Luke the Riolu (Lucario)
Moves: Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, Counter, Metal Sound
Pokemon Moves: Four moves in pokemon moveset
Pokemon Body: Muscle memory, increased physical stats (half applied in human form)
Combat Diagnostic: ability to approximate own HP and PP
Pokeglot: converse fluidly with pokemon (can now talk to team)
Multitalent: increases PP reserves/endurance, only need 4 hours of sleep
All Terrain Hiker: able to traverse any terrain
Move Expert: gain a fifth learnable move for starter
Hyperkinesis: mind and body in perfect sync (boost physical prowess)
Gear:
Rescue Badge: free item usable 2x per day
Aura Ribbon (Purple): Slightly boosts own stats
Heal Ribbon: doubles healing rate when worn
Flaws: Followed (sabotaged by a rival team but only indirectly)
Plan: First year or two would be the plot of the game. Afterwards ensure me and partner are high level and evolved before leaving (grind gummies and stat boosting items). Form a rescue team, recruit members and train them so that they can continue with work even after leaders are gone (so training a successor?). Pokemon companions can help, but likely only after the plot of game (they will get stat boost items as well?).
Next Jump – Undertale
WhiteMoon x BlackSun 