#asterarts

Ari (and Nuzleaf):

After reincarnating as a baby pokemon, Ari has no memories of being human in their past life. Nuzleaf finds them all swaddled up in the harmony scarf with a note pinned to it reading "Ari". He tries to find the kid's parents, or anyone willing to take them in, but fails and has to eventually accept his fate as a new single dad.

Taking care of Ari was hard on Nuzleaf, who was completely unprepared for the responsibility. I imagine he was a nomad for years before settling down in Serene Village for Ari's sake, so it felt weird to stay in one place for so long (like he was imposing). The stress of the situation was the perfect opportunity for Dark Matter to grow in Nuzleaf's heart, though it didn't start possessing him at this time.

As Ari grew older, they began to have these strange dreams of being human. Unbeknownst to them, these dreams were visions of their past life--memories breaking their way through. Ari tried not to think about it (they were just dreams, after all), but they couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there was more to it. Eventually, they would confide in Nuzleaf about these dreams/visions. He didn't see it as a big deal at first, thinking that it must be a psychic-type thing.

Dark Matter thought differently. And it began to tunnel its way into Nuzleaf's mind.

Clover:

After reincarnating as a baby zorua, Carracosta found her sleeping peacefully in a field of clover. The harmony scarf that she was wrapped in had no note, so Carracosta took to calling her Clover.

Growing up, she turned into a lil rascal! Clover likes getting into trouble and playing pranks on everyone in Serene Village. She tends to only learn the limits by crossing them, but she doesn't want to hurt anyone (and if she does, she makes sure to never do it again).

Meeting Ari felt like fate wanted them to be friends. They were both wearing their harmony scarfs and noticed each other immediately. Ari's a bit nervous when it comes to meeting new people, so Clover went all in befriending them! Their friendship was a tad shaky to start, but they really enjoyed each other's company and quickly grew close. Ari even started joining in on playing pranks, though they try to pull Clover back when doing anything too ambitious or reckless.

Clover has a hard time staying still, but spending time just sitting and relaxing with Ari can make hours fly by without her noticing. Ari tends to be apprehensive about unfamiliar things, but Clover has a way of getting them out of their shell and feeling excited about trying something new. They're practically glued to the other's hip. Carracosta is glad that there's another kid who can balance out Clover, and Nuzleaf is just happy to see Ari making friends.

idk if I'll change the name later, but I decided on calling this "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: World Eater" for now

So of course, here are our protagonists of Team NoName! Titled that because they are not an officially registered explorer team please do not snitch on them okay thank you <3

Buddy:

They have no memory of their own name, only that they were once human. They know pokemon, and whatever they turned into is not a pokemon. There's something terribly wrong.

The porygon z (Zee) that woke them up seems to not notice anything strange with our hero and takes a liking to them almost immediately. Whether it's because Zee is just that friendly or it's trying to keep the situation under control is hard to tell.

Zee offers a tour around the nearby town, hoping that it can help. No one in town recognizes them, as expected, but the folks stare as if knowing that something is deeply wrong. Zee seems to be the only one who doesn't look at them like that (what does it see, anyway? Do they not look strange to it?).

They're grateful for the companionship of Zee, but the heavy feeling of being out of place in this world hangs over them constantly. How does one even handle something like this? At least with Zee at their side, they feel less alone. It was even kind enough to give them a new name, so maybe things aren't so bad...

Zee:

To Zee, Buddy looks like a haunter. Finding a pokemon that claimed to be human wasn't really on Zee's bingo card for this year, but it'll be damned if it doesn't make sure they're okay.

Zee knows what it's like to feel out of place, to not belong, and it feels a kinship with this strange haunter because of that. Maybe it was too quick to jump into friendly territory, but it also knows that a little kindness can go a long way. It doesn't matter if the townsfolk are cold to its new friend, Zee will try to be the warmest thing there.

It's hard to keep a cheery disposition in the face of uncertainty and panic, but Zee does its best! It's lived by itself for a while now and is glad to have some company that doesn't flinch away from its erratic nature. It feels like there's an intrinsic understanding between the two of them, though they just met.

And so, knowing that this haunter has lost their name to forces neither of them understand, Zee suggests that they could be called Buddy "because you're my friend!"

"The Corruption":

I'm still developing stuff, but I do at least have a solid idea for the obligatory world threatening calamity that every pmd story has.

Putting a missingno in a pmd story is a bit meta and I didn't actually want to do that, so I tried to come up with a way to treat missingno as more of an "anomaly" rather than a "glitch in the matrix"--like a cryptid or scp. This is the main foundation that sprouted the idea of "the corruption", the name being used to invoke both the idea of data corruption and also a disease. I just kinda like the double meaning here, even though I'm not going into "game glitch" territory ehe :>

Areas around the world are changing in a way that pokemon do not understand. Forests are thinned until nothing is left but a wasteland. Lakes are drained dry with none of the inhabitants leaving a single sign of ever being there. Hills are flattened into plains and then even further until the surface is filled with ever expanding holes. It's as if something is eating away at the land.

The corruption is slow to consume, it took a long time for anyone to notice and no one really knows where it started. Some have tried to investigate, but were never seen again. With no end in sight, pokemon are scared of what the long-term consequences will be. Will the entire planet disappear eventually? If the corruption stops, will they be left with nothing but a flattened and featureless world? No one is any closer to understanding and the corruption continues regardless.

The appearance of Buddy does anything but calm these fears. Is this the effect the corruption has on pokemon? Is Buddy a product of the corruption, here to consume the town and everyone in it? Is Buddy the reason for the corruption's existence, their anomalous qualities causing it to manifest? It can't be unrelated. This is no mere coincidence. Zee is quick to defend its friend, but can't compete against an entire town of scared pokemon. The two are chased out, no longer welcome to call the town home.

Zee is adamant that the town is wrong. There's nothing evil about Buddy, and they've been nothing but kind and patient, how could they be related to the corruption? The source for the corruption has to lie elsewhere. It's too dangerous to investigate directly but...maybe there's some way to clear Buddy's name.

Buddy, on the other hand, is very scared. The fearful accusations of the town gnaws at the back of their mind--what if they were right? What if Buddy is a product of this corruption, rotten at the core? What if they did cause all this to happen?