Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Eternal Shadows

My eyes slowly opened, as I woke up, still tired, not ready for whatever today would bring. I rubbed my eyes, feeling grass brush up against my arm as I moved it.


Wait, grass?! I don’t remember sleeping outside!


I hastily stood up, and gawked at what I saw. A few meters away, the ground ended, and beyond, was a constantly changing sky, of greens and purples and blues and whites, all shifting and distorting with each second. I turned around, hoping that something else laid behind me, but the ground ended just as quickly that way, too. In every direction I looked, it ended the same distance away. I was on some sort of circular plateau.


I walked over to the edge, and looked down, to see if there was some way down. I hurriedly retreated in shock, before standing back up. There was nothing but a completely vertical drop into an abyss, that looked exactly like the strange skies above.


This had to be a dream. This couldn’t be real. I pinched my arm, and winced. That pain felt real. This was real. This was happening. Where was I?! How did I get here?!


My mind raced with questions, before I calmed myself down. There had to be some sort of explanation for all this. Maybe if I close my eyes, then everything will be ok. I shut my eyes, and opened them a few seconds later. Everything seemed to be the same as it was before I tried that, except I could now see something red in the corner of my vision. That wasn’t there before. I turned to the left to see exactly what that was.


It was some sort of mailbox at the side of the platform, with a pencil, and a piece of paper next to it. I walked over, and read the paper, which had the words, "Please write your name on this paper, then put it in the mailbox." I picked up the pencil, then hesitated.


What was I even doing? None of this made any sense! Who wrote this, and why should I listen to them?


Did I really have any other choice, though?


After a minute of contemplation, I wrote down "Gen" on the paper, then inserted it into the mailbox. Without warning, it started glowing brightly. I quickly backed away from it. What was happening to it?! As the light flashed even brighter in intensity, I flinched, and closed my eyes.


Suddenly, the light disappeared, and I heard a loud SNAP! I opened my eyes, and saw the top half of the mailbox was gone, a dark, jagged wooden post in its place. I hurried over, and peered over the edge to see if anything snapped it, barely catching the still red top half of the mailbox disappearing into the technicolor abyss. I backed away, shivering. What could have possibly done that?! As soon as I stepped back onto the center of the platform, the darkness in the post started to spread to the platform, causing the grass scattered around it to wilt and disappear, revealing a glassy, mirror-like layer underneath.


Soon, the platform was completely devoid of grass. The entire platform now reflected the ever-changing sky above. Strangely, my reflection seemed to be blurry. What was up with that? As I looked down, I saw something white out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head towards whatever that was, and noticed that there was a white bow on the ground a short distance away.


I walked over towards it, before picking it up. It was the softest fabric I had ever felt. As I rubbed the bow, taking in just how soft it was, I felt an odd sensation throughout my entire body. I faintly heard a voice, though I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Abruptly, the bow emitted an intense light, and my eyesight went dark.


I couldn’t see anything. Did I go blind?!


Soon, my vision started to return. Once my vision had fully cleared, the bow had taken on a blue coloration. I dropped it in surprise.


What kept happening in the flashes of light?!


After a few seconds, I calmed down, and picked the bow back up. As I did so, I noticed that, for some reason, my reflection looked different. I bent down to take a closer look. That looked like an...Oshawott?!


What had happened to me while I was holding that bow?! There was no way I could have become a Pokemon. I had to still be human, right?


I moved my hands in front of my face. They were still human hands. What was that all about? What was any of this all about?! I threw the bow back down at the ground.


The platform suddenly shifted from a mirror-like surface to a dark, glassy one. Around the edges of the platform, shadows flared up. I jumped in surprise. What was happening now?!


After a few seconds, the shadows dissipated for the most part, revealing a wide variety of Pokemon on the edges of the platform, all seemingly unconscious, and surrounded by a wavering shadowy aura.


Oddly, there didn't seem to be any Water-types.


A single paper had appeared in the center of the platform. I hesitated, before going over to it, and reading it. I gawked as I processed the message. "Rescue one," it read. Rescue from what?! Those shadows? Why only one?! This didn't make any sense! I grabbed the paper, crumpled it, and threw it. "What's going on?!" I yelled, as I looked towards the many-colored sky.


"What...happened?" I heard a voice to the left. I quickly turned in the direction of it, only to find one of the Pokemon, a Chikorita, starting to wake up, the shadowy aura around it dissipating. The crumpled-up paper was next to it.


Did I accidentally hit it with the paper?


Suddenly, I realized something. All the other Pokemon on the platform had disappeared. Where did they go?!


Wait a minute, was that voice the Chikorita?! No, it couldn't be. Pokemon couldn't talk. Well, there was that one Meowth that was on the news once, but that was just one Pokemon...right?


I began to approach the Chikorita, only for it to open its mouth and...actually speak. "Who...are you?" it said. I froze in complete shock. What was happening?! Nothing here made any sense!


The Chikorita stood fully up, only for my vision to be obscured by a flash of light. Once I could see again, the Chikorita was frozen in place, mouth agape. Did something happen to it?


I walked over to it, and once I was next to it, I noticed the platform start to shift again.


The dark, glassy surface of the platform once more became mirror-like. The Chikorita near me still seemed to be frozen in shock after whatever happened to it. I could see blurry reflections of that Oshawott, the Chikorita, and...something else.


I looked up. I barely had time to scream.


A massive hand was reaching down for us. Pink and black, coming from a spiral high in the sky.


I grabbed the Chikorita and ran to the edge of the platform, hoping to avoid it, only for it to smash into the platform, completely shattering it.


As the platform broke apart, and we fell into the abyss, I could hear my own screams, as well as many more.