Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Once in a Blue Moon Chapter 1:
It was a cold, dark night in the hills of southern Indiana. In one house, there was a single window lit up, overlooking the river far below it. Past this window, sitting on his bed was a seventeen year-old boy, playing video games. He had dishwater blonde hair which reached his collar in the back, and barely covered his eyebrows in the front. Contrasting it were his cool light grey eyes. He called them grey, though they rarely appeared that way. Depending on the lighting around him, they could appear to be blue or even green. He was tall, skinny and pale, just about what you would expect from a generic high school nerd, minus the glasses and with a bit less acne.
"Man... I can't believe the weekend's almost over..."
Suddenly, he heard a commotion from downstairs. Was that...? Yep, his brother and sister were yelling at each other again. They were as strong as any family when it got right down to it, but those two were so hot-headed they'd go after each other at any chance they got.
The light-haired boy waited until things seemed to have calmed down before walking downstairs to watch some TV. However, when he entered the family room, he could feel the tension in the air, almost as though a bomb had just gone off in the living room. His siblings were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, his mother was in a chair sniffling–clearly having been crying recently–and his father was still at work.
Unable to stand much more of this, the boy stood up, put on his coat and announced, "I'm going for a walk!"
"Michael! It's fifteen degrees with a foot of sn–"
*SLAM*
His mother didn't get a chance to finish her warning before the door banged shut and he was gone into the night.
This was Michael Gordon, and he did not yet understand the importance of the decision he just made.
Michael walked, and he walked. He did not know where he was walking, but it didn't matter. He just needed to get away.
Soon the streets and houses of his neighborhood gave way to the trees and streams of the woodlands.
"...Maybe I should head back... They might be getting worried.."
He stopped and looked around. "But wait... Where is back?"
This area was not familiar to him in the slightest. He had been to the woods many times, but never at this time of night. He came here often during the day, just too relax and think. Yet in the darkness, everything was foreign to him.
The moonlight on the snow gave the whole area a sort of ethereal strangeness and beauty. He frowned, knowing that he had to get back as quickly as possible, lest he begin to freeze; he could already feel the wind biting through his coat.
He started walking in the direction that he thought would take him back home. He hiked in silence, with nothing but the sound of the snow crunching beneath his boots to comfort him.
He continued like this for about an hour before he really started to worry. Was this the right way back? Was he just getting himself into deeper shit? Should he stay put and wait for rescue?
He forced these questions to the back of his mind and continued walking, starting to hum one of his favorite songs in order to distract himself. The muffled sound of his voice echoed through trees in a manner that was almost haunting, but he continued. What else could he do?
His trance was only broken by the sound of an owl hooting in the trees, and he began to realize how exhausted he was, staring at the ground and thinking how nice it would be to just lay down and sleep.
He shook his head.
"No... Sleeping here means I might not wake up... I have to keep going..."
And so he continued for another hour, his humming now barely recognizable as he stumbled along in the forest, shivering violently. He thought he was hearing voices.
Look at how soft that snow is... Wouldn't it be great to lie down for a bit?
"No... I'll freeze to death. I can't..."
You don't have to be there for long... Just relax... recover your strength...
"...No! If I so much as sit down... I won't get up.."
That means you're weak. Are you weak, Michael?
"...Shut up..."
The voices seemed to listen to him, oddly enough. All was silent as he continued to trek through the darkness, with only the moonlight reflecting off the snow to guide him.
He looked up at the moon. It was full, which would make it the second full moon of the month. What was that called again...? Oh, right. A blue moon. He had always loved to look at the moon at night, and even at a time like this... it calmed him.
As he walked, his eyes grew heavier and heavier, until he was essentially stumbling through the woods due to exhaustion.
Finally, he stopped. He stared at the ground briefly, wobbling in place, before falling face-first into a pile of snow.
Everything went black.
"...No, this simply will not do. The legends speak of this human. If he dies today, the world will lose its only hope."
"So what do you suggest we do..? He is surely dead if he remains like this much longer."
"The only thing we can do."
"Are you sure he is ready? He is still but a child. This is a great task to heap upon his minuscule shoulders."
"No, I am not sure. But we no longer have a choice in the matter. It must be done. We must trust that he can handle it as he is."
"Very well, I shall be off at once."
"Make haste. I am not sure how long he will last."
"Yes, my lord."
"Hey... HEY! Buddy, are you ok?"
"..."
