Prelude, Ch. 1
I knew what was going to come. Staying up late was only delaying the inevitable. By no means could I stay up through the night. After all, I thought, tomorrow is a workday and my team has a job to do and they need to be led to do it.
Internally I scoffed. Led, I thought, who am I kidding? Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like I’m doing much of that at all.
I saved my work and closed the laptop, but not before glancing at the clock that read 3:40. Great, four hours maximum, how responsible of you, d’Alin.
I felt like I was drowning. But how could I help it? Staying up late was my way to reclaim time for myself after spending a whole afternoon finishing paperwork (and procrastinating on it). Either that or losing an hour of my day driving someone to the store for yet another last-minute necessity. When I took up this job, I never would’ve guessed that the only time I’d have to relax would be either when I was asleep or when everyone else was.
Nowadays even sleep doesn’t feel like a reprieve, I thought as I shut off the dining room lights and through memory felt my way to the restroom. As I brushed my teeth, only one thing came to mind about my sleep, the same thing that had been taking up more and more of my attention: the dream.
I couldn’t find any reason for it. I never had recurring dreams before. Sure, continuations, but never repeats. Never the same dream over and over.
That’s what made me almost fear sleeping, my dream. I would be aboard an ancient sailboat with my team and see a distant storm fast approaching. No matter how much I’d try, be it by turning us around or fighting the storm, the winds would always whip the sea into a frenzy and I’d be thrown overboard.
I spat out the toothpaste and looked into the mirror, at myself. And what’s the worst part about that, d’Alin? I can’t help but ask myself, you know. But in those moments before going to sleep, I tried not to think about it.
I didn’t recall about how every time I’d be thrown into the sea, I’d look at the chaotic surface and contrast it with the calm stillness below the waves. I didn’t think about how desperately I wished to be able to just stay there and float in the stillness, to avoid the storm above, to not have to fight to survive. I didn’t think that deep down I just wanted to never surface again.
I snuck into the room I shared with my crew and, careful not to wake them, slipped into my sleeping bag. I fell asleep not thinking about what I wish I could do.
There I was again. Looking up. Through the chaos of the surface above, I could see through the thunder flashing my ship, captainless and struggling to avoid capsizing. But I could also feel the serenity of the ocean below. I watched. I always felt guilty, though I knew it was a dream.
But it’s your dream. Come on, just this once let your sleep actually be restful. Enjoy the peace.
So I did. I let myself drift aimlessly underwater, avoiding the battle raging above. But guilt quickly rose within me, and as I sank deeper and further than before, I still was unable to relax here. I knew it was a dream, but I still felt terrible as I wasn’t fighting an unwinnable war with my crew above.
That’s my team up there. Dream or not, I have to lead them. I can’t let them do it on their own. Maybe I don’t think myself worthy, but I still have to try.
I started to swim up, but I remained stationary, no closer to the ship than before. What? With more effort I propelled myself upward, but I instead sank. Deeper and deeper.
Suddenly everything became more real. I realized that, although before I could breathe just fine, now I was struggling to hold my breath. I struggled, but… something caught me, I thought. I couldn’t see, but I felt myself being dragged down, not physically, but… beyond somehow?
As the immaterial pulled me into the depths, I looked up and tried, but the cataclysm besieging my ship, my teammates, just grew more distant. My lungs were pounding.
The endless waters drowned out the sound of thunder above and replaced it with deafening stillness.
The darkness of the depths blotted out my vision of the surface above and replaced it with pitch-black nothingness.
As I gasped for air, the cold depths of the sea enveloped me and choked out my cries for help with heavy and frigid saltwater.
Everything, I thought, is fading away…
When I came to, I was greeted by the serene crash of the waves against the shore.
I then cracked open my eyes and took in the beautiful sight of a rising sun over the wide ocean.
In silence I sat up and looked out into the distant horizon, wondering what exactly my first words should be to commemorate my entrance into this new alternative dream, this glorious brave new world that was such a wonderful reprieve from the incessant struggles of life. As I pondered this and decided that I wanted to say something poetic to etch into my memory of my entrance into this paradise, I opened my mouth to speak, only for the declaration of my arrival to be replaced by a cry of “Ow-wah” as I was tackled into the sand.
I quickly looked up from the sand to see a Pokemon - okay, this really is a dream, I thought - a Deerling with closed eyes, rear itself back and turn back, where I heard it ask, “okay, now where is he?”
I pushed myself off the ground, only to see a brown furry paw taking the place of where my hand should be. I looked to my left and saw the same. I looked down and saw a tuft of cream-colored fur that made me realize that I’m somehow an Eevee. Before I could try to comprehend this further, I was once again thrown to the ground by another one of the Deerling’s tackles.
I turned once again and exclaimed, “Christ! I’m sorry for whatever I did, I surrender. Just stop attacking me!”
“Oh, you can speak now,” came the reply. Eyes still closed, the Deerling turned around and said, “hey Althi, I think we beat him. It’s just like what they taught us in the guild.”
From behind the Deerling appeared an Eevee, which I assumed to be Althi. I was proven right when the Eevee said, “Hello, feral Eevee. My name is Althi, and this is Pirth. As I understand it, since we beat you up so much that you decided to surrender, you must want to join our amazing Team Eevee. Fortunately, since we accept only Eevees and you meet the criteria, I’ll allow it.”
I looked at Althi and said, “Uh, firstly, I’m not an Eevee - well, I guess I look like one now - but I’m not feral. I’m a human.”
Althi took a moment to process that, then started laughing. “Look, I get that a lot of Pokemon don’t want to admit to being rescued as a feral, but come on, think of a better story than being a human.”
“How could I be feral,” I responded, “if we’re out in the open. We’re on a beach, not in some dungeon.”
“You walked out. Now hush! Do you want to join Team Eevee or not? I can have Pirth here turn you into dust.”
I looked at the Deerling called Pirth then back at Althi. “That’s another question I have. You said you only accept Eevees on your team but Pirth is a-”
I stopped, as Althi began to vigorously shake her head. I saw her mouth the words “don’t call Pirth a Deerling.”
I looked back at Pirth who seemed to stand even taller over me and had a dark edge in his voice when he asked, “I’m a what?”
I quickly glanced at Althi who mouthed “say he’s shiny.”
“Uh, you’re shiny?”
“Oh! Well thank you for noticing! I still don’t know exactly what that means, but even shinies can join Team Eevee!”
“Huh? It just means you’re a different color.”
Pirth stood silent for a moment, then asked, “what the fuck is a color?”
As I stared at his closed eyes it all clicked together in my head.
“Oh, nevermind. Sure, I’ll join Team Eevee, thank you for that.”
“Great! The name was my idea, by the way, since Althi and I are both Eevees,” said the blind Deerling.
Althi approached me and looked at me, asking, “so, what’s your name? Say it slowly, please.”
“It’s d’Alin.”
“That’s a strange name,” said Pirth, “it almost makes me believe your story about being a human, haha!”
“Well, ‘d’Alin’, welcome to Team Eevee! I’m the leader, Althi. This is Pirth the, uh, Leafeon.”
I glanced at Pirth who was smiling wildly, as if hearing the words Leafeon were enough to make his day.
“Okay, well, what exactly is going on now, Althi?”
“Well, we’re on a training mission from the Guild to explore Beach Cave, and since we saved you, you’re going to be joining us.”
I responded in the affirmative and started walking with them on the beach. As I trodded through the surf towards the distant cave, I started wondering why I decided to dream of being a Pokemon. He said ‘Guild’, I thought, so if there’s talking Pokemon you must be dreaming of being in a game.
Still walking, I asked aloud, “Althi, you said ‘Guild,’ right? What’s the name of the-”
“d’Alin, right?” interrupted Pirth.
“Yeah?”
“Okay. You’re to my right and Althi is to my left. I’m between you both. She can’t hear you.”
“What?”
“She’s deaf.”
Excuse me? Is the team I just joined composed of a blind Deerling and a deaf Eevee? “But,” I asked, “how did Althi hear me before?”
“She’s just really good at reading lips. You’re going to have to talk to her making ‘eye-contact’, whatever that’s supposed to mean.”
Before I could respond, I heard Althi yell “stop!” which caused Pirth to stop immediately. We appeared to be at the entrance of the Mystery Dungeon.
Althi appeared in front of me and said, “Okay d’Alin, if you want to join Team Eevee officially, you’ll have to prove yourself here! This is Beach Cave, our first dungeon, so as long as you do everything I tell you to, through my amazing leadership I’ll make sure our mission is a success! Now, the Guild placed a flag at the very end, so we have to retrieve it to prove we can be explorers!”
Before Pirth or I could respond, Althi turned back around and commanded, “now follow me!” as she disappeared into the entrance of the cave. Pirth quickly followed. I remained outside for a moment longer, wondering what exactly I was getting myself into. Eh, this is a dream within a dream, I’ll be fine. And with that, I entered my first Mystery Dungeon.
Not too much combat happened on the first floor. Well, for me. Althi and Pirth were admittedly a solid duo. Althi would tell Pirth where an enemy was coming from and how far, then tell Pirth when to attack, and the Pokemon would disappear in a puff of smoke.
And Pirth had excellent hearing, telling us that he heard Pokemon coming from behind us more than once. I only fought once, tackling a Shello when it appeared with a group of other Pokemon that Pirth couldn’t handle alone. Maybe it was just pure instinct or my disbelief that I was even here, but I made it disappear into a puff of smoke with hardly a second thought. Althi, I had noticed, seemed battle averse, hiding behind Pirth whenever they threatened her.
As we approached a large open room surrounded by rugged blue stone and pools of seawater, I noticed an out-of-place set of stairs leading into the ceiling. Ah, so even here it doesn’t make any sense.
“Just keep walking for ten paces then take a right, Pirth,” Althi said as we approached the stairs, “also, Pirth, if you don’t mind, do you mind securing the next floor while I tend to d’Alin’s wounds?”
Wounds? Am I wounded? I didn’t think that Shello got me. I started to look at my new body for any injuries, but I am unable to see any.
“Sure thing! See you there,” said Pirth as he ascended the stairs. Althi looked up and, once she seemed certain that Pirth was gone, turned to me. Noticing I was frantically looking for injuries, she said, “oh, don’t be such an egg, d’Alin, you’re not injured. Just needed to talk to you one-on-one.”
“Listen, there’s one rule for Team Eevee - okay, well, there’s also ‘do everything I say’ - but the other rule is to never call Pirth a Deerling. He’s a Leafeon, okay?”
“Uh, sure, but why?”
“Look, to put it simply, we were in an orphanage together and, well, he was barely hatched from an egg then and couldn't do much. I protected him and, since he thought of me as his sister, he thought of himself as a Leafeon since he’s a grass type. It, uh, sort of spiraled out of control from there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Pirth is shiny, but he thought others would call him a Deerling out of jealousy, not because he’s actually one. So, uh, he started to hate being called Deerling and, eventually, just Deerling in general.”
I was taken aback. “Are you telling me Pirth is racist to Deerling?”
“No, you idiot, he doesn’t race them. He hates them. Even though he’s a Deerling. Again, don’t tell him that under any circumstance.”
I asked, “he can’t possibly be that racist, right?” but Althi had already turned away and was heading up the stairs. I had to remind myself that she wasn’t ignoring me - though she certainly seemed the type - but was just deaf. I followed.
Pirth, under Althi’s guidance, handily cleared the way from floors two and three. But with each floor cleared my curiosity grew. Does Pirth really not know he’s a Deerling? How bad can it be?
So after we cleared the fourth floor and were ready to ascend to the final level, I asked Pirth - making sure to not break Althi’s rule - “hey, Pirth, what do you think of Deerling?”
Pirth smiled and said, “Well, d’Alin, I’m glad you asked.”
“They’re a bunch of Note: Just pretend that Pirth is so racist that his obscenities are beyond our comprehension, something best exemplified by R’lyehian that are Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Leafeon-hating 'fhalma gotha nilgh'rinyth 'ai deer.”
I was so stunned that I didn’t notice that we had already ascended to the Beach Cave Pit, where the flag was waiting for us. I glanced at Althi, who gave me side-eye when she was evidently able to tell that Pirth was ranting on about Deerling.
I smiled sheepishly and went to grab the flag, a little white banner with a Wigglytuff at the center. Oh, this must be Wigglytuff’s Guild. That might explain-
I stopped and stepped backward. A shadow covered the flag and then shifted positon, closer and closer, until a massive Ariados descended to the ground where it stood between us and the flag. Its penetrating gaze almost froze me still, and a glance at Althi told me from her terrified expression that this was not supposed to happen. Pirth seemed oblivious, still visibly fuming at the concept of Deerling existing.
I looked at my surroundings more, now noticing that all the walls were laden with web. The Ariados must’ve known new explorers were coming here and hid to catch new prey. Even for the three of us, this did not seem like a battle we could win. We have to escape, now.
But before I could tell Althi and Pirth, I heard a scratchy voice emanate from the Ariados, who said, “Ohhhhhh if I aren’t the most lucky bug around. Two Eevee and a Deerling, what mmmm… delectable prey for me to-”
“Who the fuck are you calling a Deerling?” I turned to Pirth. He seemed to be breathing more heavily and was shaking.
“Uhh what?” asked the Ariados, “you’re the only Deerling here. Are you blind or something?” The Ariados then looked at Althi and I. “W-wait, did I say something wrong? Is the more appropriate term ‘Deerla?’ Should I say that instead?”
But Althi and I said nothing, and Pirth slowly sauntered towards the Ariados and said, “speak up, asshole, so I can know where to attack.”
The Ariados, now amused instead of confused, started laughing. “Do you really think that you, a little Deerl-”
Pirth charged the Ariados and, sensing where it was by its laughter, threw his whole body against it in wild fury. After a cry of pain that shook the room, the massive Pokemon disappeared into a puff of smoke in an instant.
I was stunned. I managed to see that Althi shared the same expression as myself. We shouldn’t have been able to beat Ariados as a team, much less just Pirth.
I managed to move myself towards the Wigglytuff Guild flag, and asked, “P-Pirth, how?”
He just smiled. “I dunno. Whenever I start cursing out Deerling I just feel much stronger, much more lively. I think it’s Arceus letting me know that I’m right, that Deerling are a mistake. Though I usually feel a little slower for some reason.”
It was an explanation that was very ineffective at making sense to me. Either way, mission accomplished. I turned towards Althi so she could “hear” me and asked, “shall we return to the guild?”
It was surreal to be in the Wigglytuff Guild. Many of the members had changed from what I was able to remember, but the Wigglytuff Guildmaster and Chatot aide remained the same. I thought telling them that I was human and not a feral would be my reprieve, but my pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Trust me, d’Alin,” said the Chatot, “you don’t want to be thought of as a human. We had a team of four that claimed to be humans as well, and the bumbling lot burnt down our only reliable source of apples on this continent.” At this remark Wigglytuff began to grow teary-eyed. “Just… accept that you’re a feral and move on. It’s not much to be ashamed about.”
Well, whatever. I guess it can’t be helped. And that’s also very interesting, other Pokemon claiming to be human. Very off-script for a dream, but,well, that’s how dreams go. I mean, this whole little adventure has been off-script.
We went through the motions; my official induction into Team Eevee by the Wigglytuff Guildmaster, introduction to whatever teams were in the common spaces, and some food that I ate in the blink of an eye when my stomach realized I hadn’t eaten this whole time. I never would’ve thought that food in a dream could taste so good.
When dinner was over, Chatot pulled me aside. “So, we only have two to a room, so you’ll be bunking with someone else, another newly-inducted member, currently no team. But she’s an Eeveelution too, so it’s nothing to be afraid of! You’ll feel right at home.”
I said farewell to Althi and Pirth, a little sad that I’d likely never see them again once I would wake up, and Chatot guided me to the room. “I think Arimis is in there already, get some good rest, adventurer! You’ll be up bright and early for morning cheers, where I’ll give you your equipment.”
I said thanks and walked in, where I saw an Espeon looking out the window into the night sky. She must’ve heard me as she turned around and nodded her face as if saying hello.
“Hello Arimis, pleasure meeting you.” I looked at the “beds,” if you could call a very unappealing bundle of hay that, then back at the Espeon. “Is this what they expect us to sleep in?”
The Espeon didn’t say anything, instead using her psychic powers to coerce a chalkboard with some alien runes written on it to float so that I could see it.
Oh, I thought, they don’t write in English here.
“Look, what is it that you’re trying to say?”
She motioned with her eyes to the board again which did not magically become understandable, much to my dismay.
“Uhh, sorry, I can’t read that,” I said, which prompted Arimis to give me a strange look that I hate to admit offended me a little. She looked around confused, looking for something, until she looked back at me and mimed her paw covering her mouth.
It took me a moment to try to process what she was trying to tell me. “You can’t speak?”
A nod. Christ, a mute Espeon, a blind “Leafeon” and a deaf Eevee… what’s with all these disabled Pokemon? Well whatever, just go to sleep so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
“Well, goodnight Arimis,” I said as I tried to make myself comfortable in the hay, which was a very difficult endeavor. That, combined with the silent Espeon just looking at me curiously made it difficult to fall asleep, but eventually I managed to drift off, surprisingly ready to return to the work that awaited me back in reality.