Chapter Text
My eyes opened to light seeping through the cracks in the ancient-looking room. I was lying on the floor, and when I tried to sit up, I discovered I was much shorter than before. I looked down at my hand and saw stubby little red paws with only three fingers. It was strange… really strange. I took a step forward and felt a weight on my back. I had two small wings. Was I dreaming?
My thoughts snapped back when I realized I still had no idea where I was. I stood in what appeared to be an ancient temple, its layout reminding me of Egyptian ruins. I approached the lone exit and left the room, walking into a long hallway. Hieroglyphs covered the walls, telling stories of humans and… Pokemon?
That had to be an ancient hieroglyph of a Bouffalant, not a regular buffalo. As I walked down the hall, the carvings on the walls grew denser and more intricate. Then I saw my first Pokemon. It was an Unown, if I remembered correctly. The Pokemon was a big eye with a shell-like body shaped like the letter “T”. It floated above me, studying me for a few seconds before drifting away.
“Okay, that was weird,” I thought as I moved further down the hall. Light filtered in only through the cracks in the walls, and a larger opening ahead revealed the jungle outside. I tried to jump for a better view, but instead of falling, I began to float. Panic set in as I flailed, making breaststroke motions, yet I remained suspended in the same spot.
It took me embarrassingly long to figure out how to fly. The process was more mental than physical, and I kinda had to will my way a certain direction. I circled the hall before deciding to do something cool and landed in a Superman pose on the floor, leaving a small crack behind me.
‘Okaay, I’m kinda strong,’ I thought to myself as I turned to see the same Unown staring back at me, its eyes somehow a little more deadpan than before. Okay, that was a little embarrassing. I let myself look ashamed before turning back around and continuing down the hall. This time, the Unown continued following me.
So I was some Pokemon now. I wished I had a mirror so I could see exactly what I was, but my memory of Pokemon was fuzzy, and a face would probably paint a better picture of what I had become.
As the hall widened, entryways appeared along its sides. I turned into one and found what looked like a large prayer room. Eight columns supported the ceiling, while worn prayer mats dotted the floor. At the far end stood a stone statue of an avian being, roughly five meters tall. Its wings were spread, and its tail arched over its head.
“Tornadus,” I murmured to myself. That was a statue of Therian Tornadus, or possibly an idol meant for worship. It was strange seeing a Pokemon design that was more realistic than the anime art style I was used to. I took a peek into the other rooms, and sure enough, I saw the statues of Landorus, Thundurus, and one other Pokemon I couldn’t seem to recall, a turtle of sorts.
As interesting as all this was, I needed to find a way out of this temple. Well, it never hurts to ask. I turned to the hovering Unown, whom I now mentally regarded as T, and asked, “Do you know where the exit is?”
T tilted its body in a way to indicate it was thinking, then began to speed out of the room and into the hall, forcing me to fly after him to keep up. We sped through the halls, twisting and turning from one direction to the other until we reached a smaller room entryway. This room somehow looked older than the previous shrine rooms. It was less maintained, with more cracks and only two columns holding up the roof, and no prayer mats were on the floor.
At the end of the room was a table with a smaller idol on top of it. A statue of a small rabbit-like Pokemon stood on it. Its head formed a V shape with its two ears pointed straight up.
‘A shrine to Victini?’ I thought to myself. I turned to T, and he looked at the idol, then back at me.
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me, and I don’t think we are at the exit.”
T floated over to the idol and tapped it. Then he proceeded to float over and tap my head.
“Hey, quit that!”
I swatted at him and froze. Three fingers, three fingers. I looked at the idol with the same three fingers.
That was me; I was a Victini.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about this revelation. I suppose I was extremely lucky not to end up as a Stunfisk or worse, but I didn’t feel very mythical at the moment. Hell, shouldn’t I be at least able to do a fire move?
I held my hand out in a kamehameha gesture and tried to mentally force fire out of my palms. Nothing happened. T was staring at me again, and this time, I just stared back. I was just ripped from my old life and reincarnated as a Pokemon. I just wanted to firebend, and I refused to be judged by a floating eye that could only learn ONE move…
I folded. It turns out that having a staring contest with a floating eye was an act in futility and a waste of time, considering I was still stuck in this maze-like temple. If only I could… wait… I’m an idiot.
The sounds of bird Pokemon swacking and flapping filled the air as a wall of the temple crumpled to my fist. I may be currently incapable of bending fire, but I'm still rock smashing strong. I looked back at the Victini-sized hole in the wall. Technically, I was a Pokemon they worshiped here, so they probably wouldn’t mind if I made my own exit. Well, it wasn’t like there was anyone here to complain. Anyways, I’m free now! I jumped in celebration as I scanned the area.
‘Trees, trees, more trees,’ I thought to myself as I scanned the jungle. I floated above the Trees just to see more trees scattered across the whole horizon. Where was I, the Amazon Rainforest?!? Arceus must have heard my thoughts because suddenly clouds began to flood over the sky, and rain started pouring on me.
I suppose temple life might not be so bad for now. I turned back to the hole in the wall to see T still staring at me.
“Shut up,” I said. “You’re thinking your judgments way too loudly.”
To my surprise, T seemed to actually wilt back a little. I guess that was my victory for the day.