Shinto

Well, I've made it. The entrance to Sorairo Cave.

Apparently, a lot of powerful Rokumon make their home in here. Rumor has it that any wild Rokumon found in this place is as powerful as one wielded by the region's strongest Rokumon Trainers. It's considered so dangerous that it's completely off-limits to anyone not part of the Rokumon League. So what am I doing here?

I'm .̵̧͟.̕͢.̡̨͞ ̴͡.̶̸̵͜.̸̡̢̀͟.̡́͜Grey, and I'm a Rokumon Champion. Almost. Even after I've s̴͘͜k͢͠ì̛p̶̀͢p͘͢͠҉͟e͝͝d̸̷battled my way through this region's Dojo Leaders and h̸̴̶̶̡a̶͞c͏̧̕k͝҉e̷̢͡d̵̢́͟ ̛͞i̡̛n͘͝captured almost every Rokumon this Zone has to offer, there is still one thing that has been keeping me from fully earning my title, and that's s̵̶̨͟͞h̵̕͟͟i̶͘̕͘͜t̡̕͟͟ń̵̴ó̧̕͜͠Shinto.

Since the start of my journey, I've been after it. I've always heard other Trainers call Shinto stuff like "too quick", or "too annoying",̧̕͟ ̵̸̴̀ò҉͠r̵̨̢͠ ́͡͞"̡̕͠u҉͞ņ̶̢b̵͏e̴̶̛͝a̶̧͜͠ţ̴̢a̴̢͜͡b̷̸̛̀͘l҉͜͞҉͏é̀͘͠͡"̴̡̛͢, so my plan was to get catching it out of the way as soon as I was able. I didn't stop to consider how much truth there was to what they said at first, but I've since found out the hard way. Every time I looked for it, I'd have to walk some long and unfriendly route into some cramped cavern, and every time, it'd do its stupid little dances, break out of every Roku Ball I threw at it and then taunt me as it ran off to who-knows-where.

That's why I'm here. According to my Rokudex, this is where Shinto lives, meaning that when I find it, it'll have nowhere else to go. It won't get away this time,̧͘͠͞͞ ̧́͢i̕҉̨'͜͡҉̴͟v̨̢҉̨͢ę̶̀̕ ̷͝m̵͞a̸̸̶͢d͞҉e͜͢͝ ̨͜҉s̀ừ̷r̸͏̶҉e̶͏̶̀͠ ̶̡̨͜ò͟͡͝f̨̀͟͞ ̴̵̧͡͡í̷̡̕҉t̷̀̕͠͝.

As I step inside, the cave's atmosphere overwhelms me almost immediately. The outside warmth is drained by the damp air and my ears are filled with the loud splashing of underground rivers and echoing cries of Rokumon. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but when they do, it's clear that this terrain is more rough than anything I've had to traverse before. Instinctively, I search my backpack for the strongest can of Ward I can find and spray myself down to keep away anything that isn't Shinto, and with that done, I set forward into the depths...

Shinto!

What the-?! I quickly turn around at the sound of Shinto's cry. The white light shining into the cave is near-blinding, but the silhouette standing in it is unmistakable. How the heck did this thing get behind me so fast?! The entrance is right there! It's gonna escape! Not wanting to scare it off, I'̵̡̀v̷͞e̸̡͞ ҉̷̛ḑ̧͟͝í͟͠͡s̢̡̀̕͠a̵͘͝͝b̧́l̴̸͝͝e͡͏̧͜ḑ̶̸̨͜ stop myself from sending out a Rokumon of my own, instead immediately grabbing an empty Roku Ball from inside my bag. Looking back at Shinto, I see it has already begun to dance around erratically. Is it preparing an attack, about to make a break for it, or just messing with me? Whichever it is, I can't afford to wait and find out, it's now or never.

As I reveal the Ball in my hand, Shinto stops and stares at it for a moment. Taking advantage of its confusion, I throw the Ball as hard as I can. Before Shinto has a chance to dodge, the Ball opens up and traps it inside. The sound of the Ball falling to the ground reverberates throughout the cave's interior. The splashing of the rivers and the cries of the Rokumon both seem to have piped down in anticipation. I can't even hear my own racing heartbeat, it's that quiet. The Ball shakes once, twice, three times, and then locks up.

Gotcha.

...

No.

...Huh?

This isn't supposed to happen... This was NEVER supposed to happen!

...Never supposed to-?! What YOU'RE doing isn't supposed to happen!

You... WHAT DID YOU DO?!

I can only look as the Roku Ball containing Shinto bounces around on its own, cracks and dents forming on it as Shinto, against everything that I know about capturing Rokumon, seemingly tries to fight its way out, berating me in the process. I didn't even know this thing could talk! With every movement, reality itself seems to shake as strange lights flash across my vision. What the f̡̨͡͏͝u̸͟ç̕k̵͟͞͞ is going on?! Make it stop!

...It stops. The Ball rolls into place as if it were looking me in the eyes.

...You cheated.

What? What are you talking about?!

cheatedcheatedcheated

i̶ di͘dn̛'t̵ ̢c͟heat!̨ it'̕͟s̵͠͠ yǫ̷u̶͜͡r̀͏ ̴̕f̀á̀u͘lt̀͠ ͟͠͡t͟͠ḩá̷t̴͞͝-̵

CHEATEDCHEATEDCHEATEDCHEATEDCHEATED

-͢͢d̢͏̴͠u̧͟͝r̡͢҉í́ń̶͝g͞͏ ̨̀b̛͞͡͝ȩ͜͠҉t̵̵̢à̴̧̛͞ ̸͟t̵̴̕e̴̛̛͝͡s͠͏̧͘ţ̸͘͡͝i͏ǹ͜͞͠g̴̶͡.̀͠͡͏̛.̨͏.̨̛̛!̢́͟

The Ball breaks open. The lights and tremors ravage my senses once more. I close my eyes and cover my ears, begging for it to be over. When I open them again, Sorairo Cave is gone. It's dark, and... so cold... Why is it so cold? I hear a familiar laugh behind me. Turning to face it, I see Shinto skittering out of the black, with fury in its eyes. Something about it looks different, more monstrous, more h̵͟y̧͟͝p҉e͠҉̶r̸̴r̀e҉͘͟á̴͝l̸̢͡i̧stic. I don't even know what that means, but it somehow feels right to call it that. Reflexively, I reach for one of my Roku Balls to defend myself, but it's empty. Gozos, Charryu, Odinuzzle... I can't feel them anywhere on me.

"Get away from me, you freak!" I shout, but get only more laughter in response. Shinto lunges forward. I can just barely back away as it brings down its arms, narrowly avoiding the attack. At the point of impact, the floor breaks into those same lights as before, but unlike then, they don't disappear. Instead, they're spreading. Shinto shrieks, as if hurt by the lights, which I take as the opportunity to run for my life.

I can't find any end to this darkness. Looking back, I see Shinto had gotten back on its feet and is now giving chase. With every step, more lights erupt at its feet. I could even see them flickering across its body, like it was infected by them. Are you planning to get both of us killed?! Leave me alone!

As I run, I can hear its laughter getting louder, and see the lights flashing more brightly behind me. I try to force myself to run faster as to not let anything overtake me, but it's no use. The floor breaks out into lights directly in front of me. With no chance to dodge, I step right on them. It burns like h̸̴̸͏e͢l͢͡͞l͝͠͡, forcing me to the ground. As I slowly roll onto my back, I see Shinto looming over me, its body now almost one with the flashing lights. It lets out one last horrifically high-pitched cackle as it reaches for me. I can do nothing but scream as I am consumed on contact.

The last thing I see is flashes of someone else's life, whose eyes have been looking out through mine.