Nightmare Guild

[CerealKillerRoselia!]

Hello, I'm CerealKillerRoselia and I'm new to Bulbagarden Forums. Here's a Pokemon fic I'm currently working on. It's a Battle Royale/Hunger Games/Dangan Ronpa-style PMD AU, so I'm warning you that there will be gore later on. The pairings throughout the story will be SnivyxOshawott, LomBreloom, FroslassxTreecko, and ClefairyxRoselia.

Summary: Led by the mysterious Guildmaster C, Dream Guild is anything but a dream - there, fourteen Pokemon were locked in and told to kill until one is left standing. Some will be conducting investigations, some losing their minds, some scheming, and some others will simply be... well, dead. It'll be a killing spree that bypasses friendship and even love! Let the game begin!

Enjoy! :ksmile:


Prologue

Spoiler

~ Nightmare Guild ~​

Prologue

Something happened a few days ago

Place: Thunderwave Cave

...Everything is shaking. I don't know what's happening. No one is here with me. No one cares about me. No one cares that I will perish under these falling boulders. No one cares whether I live or die. No one tries to come for me. I doubt they even remember I exist. They are all safe outside while I look up at the cave ceiling, wondering which boulder that will crush me...

...

...

Present day

"Pelipper. Could you deliver these letters, please?"

The head postal officer, also another Pelipper, was sitting at his desk in their post office, high on a cliff near the Pokémon Square. He was sweating just by sitting all day behind his desk. The head postal officer was like that. He sweats a lot.

Pelipper the wandering postal carrier didn't, although his job consisted of roaming the skies frequently to deliver letters to the Pokémon of the Square. However, most letters were addressed to the various rescue teams in the Pokémon Square and its surrounding areas.

"Roger that."

Pelipper went to get the four letters his sweaty friend was handing out with his wing. The four letters were identical although they were addressed to different Pokémon. Pelipper noted that they looked very sophisticated. They were printed on quality paper and even had a crest with a Cresselia on it. The sender was written as a "Guildmaster C of Dream Guild".

However, it was when glimpsing their receivers' addresses that Pelipper burst out. "Two of these letters are to go to Treasure Town, and another one's even supposed to go all the way to PokéPark. Do you really want me to deliver them today? If so, I might not get back here until evening."

The head postal officer smiled apologetically at him. "I know, and I'm sorry," he said. "I know that wandering postal carriers aren't supposed to have overtime work hours, but those letters seem to be important. They were supposed to go on express air mail, but all our Flygon aren't here. They're already on express jobs of their own, so I need you to do this one. Sorry," he said again.

Pelipper tried not to look put out - he was looking forward to eating a warm dinner with his wife back home this evening. But since he was a wandering postal carrier, and a good one at that, he managed to stay poker-faced. "All right," he said. "I'll just go now, then."

"Thanks, Pelipper!" his friend called as the wandering postal carrier took to the skies through the hole on their roof.

...

Pelipper was so used to delivering letters to different destinations that he didn't miss a beat. He would deliver the letter which has the closest destination, and then work his way to the destination farthest away. His first destination was this very Pokémon Square, and the letter was to go to a rescue team called Team DynamicPunch. In less than a few minutes, he had spied the rather small Riolu-shaped team base. He hovered lower and popped the correct letter into their mailbox.

His next destination was Treasure Town, which wasn't that far away from the Pokémon Square. He had two letters to deliver there: one to a Team Overgrow and the other to a Team Red Bow. He finally saw the two bases he was looking for: one was a Breloom-shaped one and the other was a rather strange Roselia-shaped one but with Froslass ice crystals on its head and the wings of a Staraptor. There were two more THUNKs as he popped each letter into their mailboxes.

Finally, his farthest destination was PokéPark. Luckily for Pelipper, he wasn't carrying a heavy load anymore - he only had one letter to deliver left.

Since PokéPark wasn't like the rest of the Pokémon World - it was divided into areas with their own Area Keepers - PokéPark didn't have any rescue team bases. However, the envelope stated that the invitation meant for Team PokéPark could be delivered to the Beach Cove area of PokéPark. Even more specific, it was supposed to go to the assistant of Area Keeper Samurott, an otter Pokémon named Oshawott.

After leaving the letter at Samurott's lighthouse, Pelipper took to the skies once again, this time in the direction of home.

And hot dinner.

Team Overgrow

"Look what I found in our mailbox."

It was Treecko Kimori, the brains and strategy-maker of Team Overgrow. He was striding purposely into their Breloom-shaped base, holding a letter in his hand. It was almost evening, and the team had just finished a challenging rescue job. Recently they were trying to collect more Explorer Points, so they chose more difficult rescue jobs. A few days ago, they'd done this really challenging one in Thunderwave Cave. Fortunately, they managed to complete their job and even made friends with a Normal-rank rescue team called Team DynamicPunch who was also there.

The other three members of the team was lounging lazily inside the base, but Treecko wasn't. He was too serious to be sitting around doing nothing. That was how no-nonsense Treecko was.

Seeing the letter in Treecko's hand, team leader Breloom Kinogassa said while clacking his sore knuckles, "Nope, no more rescue jobs for today, Treecko, thank you very much."

"But this isn't a rescue job," Treecko protested. "This is a letter from Guildmaster C of... Dream Guild."

Breloom looked a fraction more interested than he was earlier. "Really? Sounds important. What does it say?"

Treecko read the letter aloud:

»̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶
Team Overgrow (Breloom Kinogassa, Treecko Kimori, Lombre Raindish, and Cleffy Clefairy)

Treasure Town

We are proud to inform you that your team has been selected to participate in the 1-week camp for certain rescue teams at Dream Guild, Little Isshu, from June 25 to July 2. You do not need to bring anything with you, just this invitation.

Activities will include training by the guildmaster of Dream Guild and the usual activities you will find in any other guild... But better. That's because you'll be at the Dream Guild.

Thank you for your attention and we hopefully await your participation.

Sincerely,

Guildmaster C
»̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶

"Umm..." Cleffy Clefairy, a rather insecure and unconfident Pokémon with a cute yellow hairbow, wavered after reading the letter. "What's Dream Guild?"

"¡Ay caramba!" It was Lombre Raindish, the other girl in the team who was as different from Cleffy as black and white. She often mixes up English with her mother tongue, Spanish. She always wears a black skull-patterned bandanna and black boots and loves metal music. Other than that, she never wants to leave home without her Gibson Flying V guitar. "Whaddya mean, you don't know Dream Guild? It's quite popular."

"Dream Guild is a very prestigious guild in Little Isshu," Treecko explained. "Although not much is known about it, Dream Guild has a very good reputation. They say the guild building is like a castle itself."

"Really?" Breloom's eyes widened. "So what do you guys think? Should we participate in this camp thingy?"

"We should," Treecko said seriously. "It might score us some much-needed Explorer Points. Besides, the guild is very prestigious..." Lombre agreed by nodding gamely, while Cleffy heaved a great sigh before replying, "OK, maybe we should..."

"All right," Breloom said. "That means we're in."

 

[CerealKillerRoselia!]

Chapter One: Dream Guild
The Pokemon arrive at the Dream Guild looking forward to a good time... Instead, they get the nastiest surprise of their lives.

Spoiler

~ Nightmare Guild ~

PART ONE: PRE-GAME
​

Chapter One: Dream Guild

"...Wow."

Team Overgrow was standing before a castle that was better known as Dream Guild. Although they were still standing outside the hedge that kept the whole world outside, they could see that saying that the guild was a castle in itself wasn't an understatement. Even the hedge looked beautiful.

However, the gate was closed.

Breloom was about to complain that they couldn't get in when Treecko got an idea. He pulled out the invitation and slid it into a slot in the red brick formation. The gate opened.

"Nice thinking," Lombre said, sneering at Breloom. Breloom glared back at her before they went in through the archway.

But not before he had realized that she was holding her white Flying V guitar.

"Are you nuts?" he exclaimed. "You brought your guitar here?!"

She tossed her head. "Well, yeah," she said. "What? It's my guitar and it's entirely up to me whether I decide to bring it or not."

Treecko rolled his eyes and led them into the front yard.

The building in the distance was a soft creamy-yellow color. There was a main building, which they were now walking to, and two long buildings that stretched out of either side of it. It had a green roof and red and green banners at the front.

That was when Cleffy glimpsed something coming at them from the sky. She looked up...

And saw a Staraptor flying over their heads. He landed on the lawn not far away. Then two Pokémon hopped off his back: a Froslass and a Roselia. The Roselia was grumbling about how Staraptor shouldn't have done acrobats in the sky since it gave him the creeps when he noticed Breloom's team.

"Team Overgrow!" he exclaimed happily, showing a sudden change of emotion. Then he started to run over with his teammates bringing up the rear.

"Well, what do you know. Team Red Bow was also invited," Breloom said, smirking as Cleffy's whole face went fire engine red. For as long as anyone remembered, Cleffy has had a huge and obvious crush on the Roselia.

The Roselia screeched to a halt in front of Breloom's team. "Hey!" he said. "I didn't know you were also invited."

"Hi Roselio!" Breloom exclaimed. "We didn't know you were invited, either."

By this time, Froslass and Staraptor had reached them too.

"Hello," Froslass said shortly, being the very quiet girl she is. As for Staraptor, he raised an eyebrow (yes. He doesn't have any, good point, but still) and said, "Breloom, Lombre, Treecko, and Cleffy are here too? Wow. This is gonna be a huge house party."

"House party?" Froslass rolled her eyes. "We're here to train-"

She was interrupted by the arrival of yet another team.

"BRELOOM!" A Magnemite shouted as he raced in through the archway. "Breloombreloombreloombreloom! You're here! Bzzzzt! Yay! We're gonna train together in the next seven days! Yay! Bzzzt!"

"Magnemite. Slow down!"

A Riolu, a Machop and a Tyrogue were running breathlessly to keep up with him. Riolu was shouting irritatedly. Machop was shouting happily. Tyrogue was silent.

"Team DynamicPunch is also here?" Treecko wondered. "Wow. Before we know it, this guild will be filled with all our friends."

The Magnemite had taken a liking to Breloom since Thunderwave Cave and now looked up to Breloom like a little brother. By this time he had reached Breloom, and was beaming happily imagining the seven days to come.

"Hello," Riolu said breathlessly when he finally caught up, followed by Machop and Tyrogue. Riolu, the leader of Team DynamicPunch, is a Pokémon who was sometimes a bit annoying with his many theories. Machop, although he's the same age as the others, is very childish. Tyrogue is the most sensible one in the team.

Since Team DynamicPunch and Team Red Bow had never met before, Treecko introduced the two teams.

"Bonjour! Hello," said Roselio in his usual friendly, happy-go-lucky manner, both in English and in his mother tongue.

Froslass merely nodded.

Staraptor said, "Nice to meet you guys!"

...That was when a shadow fell over them. Treecko looked up and saw a Drifblim carrying three Pokémon.

"Told you this guild will be full of our friends," he said to Lombre. "Here comes Team PokéPark now."

The Drifblim landed on the ground and his three passengers hopped down. Roselio noticed them and ran right over, shouting, "Hey! Oshawott, Snivy, Tepig! You three were also invited?"

Yep. Staraptor's house party was about to come true, for sure.

⌣»̶✽«​

With Team Overgrow, Team Red Bow, Team DynamicPunch, and Team PokéPark at the Dream Guild, the party was complete. Although Team PokéPark also hadn't met Team DynamicPunch before, it didn't take long for them to hook up with one another. After all the introductions had been made, they went into the Dream Guild itself through the giant double doors.

Which was strangely empty.

The entry hall was actually grand with shiny marble floors and towering pillars. There was a Sphinx statue in the center and bulletin boards and a set of metal doors on the far wall. However, no one was there.

"Umm, isn't Guildmaster C or someone else supposed to be welcoming us?" Riolu said haughtily.

"Or at least meeting us," Tepig offered. Unlike the team leader Oshawott who was action- (and Snivy-) loving, Tepig was timid and docile. However, he values honesty above anything else.

Staraptor glanced at Froslass. "Are you sure you got the date right?"

Froslass looked offended. Since she was a widely-proclaimed genius and a lover of science and rationality as well as a mechanic-savvy, she was very detail-oriented and was hardly ever wrong. "Of course I did not. Even if I got the date wrong, which I am not saying I did, then I suppose the other teams must have gotten it wrong too?"

"Maybe the guildmaster just isn't ready yet?" Cleffy suggested uncertainly. "Maybe he's gonna come out soon?"

"Maybe," Treecko said coolly. "That means we wait." And the cool, calm, and collected Wood Gecko leaned against the wall with his arms folded in front of him. Waiting.

45 minutes later

"OK, I'm officially done waiting," Riolu complained loudly. "What now? I have a feeling this Guildmaster C isn't going to come out in the near future."

"Maybe..." Oshawott gasped. "This could be a prank!"

As you can see, Samurott's right-hand Pokémon gets suspicious very quickly. His brain is always thinking up conspiracy theories, unlike his teammate and crush Snivy, the princess of PokéPark's Arbor Area. Although she was cold-hearted and had a bit of a spoiled demeanor, she was laid-back and quick-witted.

"Of course not," she scoffed. "Why would he pull a prank on us? The letter he sent us was too sophisticated-looking to be a prank."

"Well, instead of arguing here, why don't we use the time to look around?" Tyrogue said. His message was clear: he thought the argument was silly. Yes, Tyrogue had common sense, and he had lots of it.

"Great idea!" Machop chimed in. Although he was Tyrogue's best friend, Machop was different from him in many obvious ways. "I can't WAIT to explore this guild!"

»̶✽«̶

Following Tyrogue's advice to look around instead of sitting around doing nothing, they went into the corridor on the left of the entry hall and into the left wing. That was where they discovered the rooms they were to stay in for the next seven days.

Since there were 2 corridors branching out of the entry hall and 14 Pokémon, there would be 7 rooms in each corridor. They found that each room had been assigned to one Pokémon. In the left wing which they'd gone into, they saw the rooms of Lombre, Riolu, Magnemite, Treecko, Froslass, and Oshawott.

At the end of this wing, there were a library and a lab, to Froslass' silent delight. (Meanwhile, Riolu rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Maybe this is a guild for nerds."). And in the very corner near the lab and library, they found Roselio's room.

"Why is my room here? It's way far from the others'." Roselio groaned.

Staraptor sneered. "Maybe Guildmaster C just wants you to suffer," he teased.

On going into the right wing this time, they found the rooms of Breloom, Cleffy, Tepig, Snivy, Machop, and Staraptor. And at the end of it, there was a huge training gym and a small storage room... And Tyrogue's bedroom.

"Don't worry, at least you won't be suffering alone," Staraptor told Roselio. "Tyrogue's room is far from the others' too." Fortunately, Tyrogue was sensible, so he kept silent.

The door at the far end of the entry hall turned out to lead into the mess hall. There was a long aluminium table you'd find in a cafetaria. On the left there was another door that led into the kitchen, and inside there was another storage room.

And yet they were still waiting for Guildmaster C.

"If he doesn't appear in five minutes, we're outta here," Riolu said to Team DynamicPunch as the others looked at one another, thinking whether or not they should go home too.

That was when they heard the announcement.

A deep voice from the speakers on the corners blared out, "Greetings rescue team Pokémon, and welcome to Dream Guild. This is Guildmaster C. I offer you the sincerest apologies for getting in touch with you late, but I hope you have finished looking around and that you all are pleased with the facilities here at Dream Guild."

"You bet!" Froslass said quietly, still pleased with the library and the lab.

The others nodded. "OK, this place is pretty good," even Riolu had to admit.

But then things were doomed to go downhill.

"Ah. It's my pleasure to see that you are all satisfied with the place," said Guildmaster C. "That's because it is a vital part in the program you will be participating in. First of all, I would like to offer another apology. I know that the letter said seven days, but I'm afraid that is an understatement."

"Huh?" Oshawott's eyes darkened.

"The truth is, this is the place where you'll be spending the rest of your lives."

"Haha. Very funny," Riolu rolled his eyes.

"I know this must sound like a joke, but I am assuring you this isn't. The door has been programmed to permanently lock once all of you have entered."

"Wh... What's the big idea? You must be fibbing," Staraptor snapped, trying to convince himself that Guildmaster C was joking. However, he had a strange sense of foreboding that he wasn't.

"I'm telling the truth. Go ahead and try the door if you don't believe me."

Breloom immediately ran out of the room and jiggled the handle of the double doors that led outside. When he returned, the others could see plainly that his face was pale. "He's not kidding," he said grimly. "The door really is locked but I don't see any keyholes. And that door is indestructible."

Staraptor turned with wide eyes to look at the speaker. "What's the big idea?!" he repeated.

"Like I said earlier, all of you are going to participate in a program," Guildmaster C continued, "that involves living here for the rest of your lives. You have to live here in peace and harmony without contact with the outside world."

"That's stupid!" Riolu yelled. "That's the most crappy joke I've ever heard!"

"Fufufu... Going out of this guild is theoretically impossible," Guildmaster C went on without paying heed to Riolu's protests. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Tepig asked.

"Unless you graduate from Dream Guild."

"OK," Froslass said quickly. She was that type of person who didn't have anything to worry about when it comes to any kind of graduation. "And how do we graduate?"

"It's simple, fufufufu~! You just have to be the last one standing."

Now Froslass looked much less sure. "In what?" Tepig asked cautiously.

"In an all-out killing spree~!" was the breezy reply.

...

...

...

I don't know what your reaction would be if you were there too, but for one thing, Riolu burst out laughing.

"That's nuts," he cackled. "You crack me up, Guildmaster. That's the funniest joke I've ever heard!"

However, the others, who seemed to believe what Guildmaster C was saying, looked grim. Even Magnemite, who was morphologically emotionless. Now he looked the most grim-faced of all.

Guildmaster C easily ignored Riolu again. "You simply have to be the last one alive. So as you can see, only one of you will graduate from the guild, only one of you will see the outside world again."

"That's PREPOSTEROUS!" Oshawott burst out. "You can't do that!"

"Silly otter, I actually can, because I'm the guildmaster," Guildmaster C said, "and there's nothing you can do about it but cope with it. You have two choices: either you live harmoniously, or you try to be the Graduate. Fufufu, if it's the latter, go find yourselves some weapons and let's see some blood, shall we?"

And the speaker went silent.