Rowan coughed as he rolled over onto his stomach. More disoriented than anything, he gasped for breath as he tried to get his bearings. The whole waking up and getting knocked out was beginning to get old, even if he was sure he died again.
"It's like the world's laziest writer trope." Rowan groaned as he slowly stood up.
The ground was white but strangely there was no snow. The trees around him were also white, devoid of any color. The world had lost all color, leaving an empty albino palette.
"Hello?" Rowan called out. "Anyone there?"
His voice carried through the air, echoing all around him. He flinched at the stark contrast of his own volume compared to the new world he found himself in. He could feel his heart beat spiking as he spun around, looking for anything different in this new hell.
"I see you're awake" a voice called out to him.
Rowan suddenly felt an insurmountable pressure on his back and he crumpled to the ground beneath its weight. The voice alone commanded an unseen strength that rendered him helpless. It was a struggle to force himself to even make it to his hands and knees before its monumental pressure. For the first time in his life, Rowan was afraid on a spiritual level.
"Interesting" The voice boomed. "Most mortals lose themselves in the mere presence of me."
Rowan looked around in search for the source of the voice but came up with nothing. He realized with dread the voice was coming from within his own head. Every hair on his body stood on end at the very idea that God was literally speaking to him.
"W-who are you?" Rowan shakily asked, in fear of the answer.
"I," the voice replied. "am Arceus."
Rowan froze at his words. Out of everything he expected to hear, Arceus was the last on the list. He was in some sort of limbo, beyond the reach of any mortal plane and God was a pokémon? Rowan fell backwards onto his butt and began laughing uncontrollably.
"Uh…" the voice murmured before asking. "What's so funny?"
By now his laughter had become so intense, his sides began to hurt. The very idea that the God of a child's game was real was downright ridiculous to him. Rowan struggled to find words to speak, but nothing but incomprehensible gibberish spat out between fits.
"SILENCE FOOL!" The voice commanded.
"I- I'm sorry," Rowan replied, doing his best to choke back his snickering. "You mean to tell me. That you're my God? A pokémon?"
"Behold mortal!" Arceus cried as a beam of light struck the ground before Rowan, nearly blinding him. He was forced to shield his eyes with his arms. When the light vanished, Rowan blinked in disbelief as he beheld the divine creature before him.
"Y-you weren't kidding." Rowan gasped in disbelief.
"No, I wasn't." Arceus replied, stamping a golden tipped hoof.
"Then… Am I going to hell? Heaven? Limbo?" Rowan asked. "Does this mean every human that dies sees you?"
Before he could fire off another question, Arceus stamped his hoof again. The ground itself shook with his impatience.
"Silence! Your time here is limited and I must speak!" Arceus boomed. The oppressive force returned, forcing Rowan to his knees again.
"The God in your world is no more. He has abandoned you eons ago, moments after your kind's inception. I snatched your soul before it was shattered into oblivion. To answer you, your kind has no heaven, no hell and most certainly no limbo."
Rowan looked down to his hands and flexed them. If he wasn't going to the afterlife, then where was he? Was he dreaming?
"Then why? Why did you save me?" Rowan asked. The God pokémon stared at him for a moment. "Don't hit me with that 'God moves in mysterious ways' bull crap."
For the first time Arceus seemed amused by his response. Taking it as a good sign, he asked again.
"Because young one," Arceus started, his tone shifting to a much more sympathetic one. "What 'Great Divine' creates life just to abandon them? I've seen what humans have done in your world and it's appalling. Without proper guidance, many humans, such as yourself, fell prey to their own wickedness."
Rowan shifted from his knees to a proper, more comfortable sitting position in the colorless grass beneath him.
"But… that doesn't really answer my question. Why me? What's going to happen to me now?" Rowan asked once more.
Arceus shifted uncomfortably before sighing. Rowan could feel the blood drain from his face. What could possibly make a literal god uncomfortable?
"In all my power, I cannot take direct action on the world I created, I can only influence. Hoopa brought you to my world to spare you the death you would have suffered inside your plane. Sadly the cruel and mischievous fellow saw fit to drop you into the path of a deadly blizzard." Arceus explained.
"Then….I'm" Rowan whispered.
"Dead, yes" Arceus finished, bowing his head to him. Rowan sat in place, petrified. Here he was, a mortal, being apologized to by being that transcended anything he could possibly imagine.
"You said there was no heaven or hell in my world… but, what about here?" Rowan asked slowly.
"That, I leave up to you. If you'd like, I can personally escort you to this dimension's heaven…" Arceus offered. Rowan sighed in relief.
"OR, you can live on in my world." Arceus suggested.
"Wait, I thought you said I died?" Rowan asked incredulously. He had fantasized about leaving his crummy life behind but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine it becoming true. Back home pokémon was nothing more than a child's game, a fantasy.
"Indeed, however I've made a few deals and have arranged for you to have a new body." Arceus explained eagerly. The God Pokémon seemed almost proud of what he had done and offered.
"However there is a catch," Arceus quickly added. "I need you to perform a single task for me. I'll have to keep your memories of what transpired here locked away until the time is right."
"Yeah? And?" Rowan asked excitedly. "Sounds like a good deal to me."
The God pokemon stamped his feet, but this time in excitement. With each hoof fall, the ground beneath them became suffused with color. Rowan stood in awe as he took in the beauty of creation before his very eyes. Within moments, the strange white void bloomed with life and color.
"Rowan, my dear boy," Arceus said happily. "You're about to embark on a journey no human before you has ever experienced."
"My world is far from perfect. You will encounter wickedness and strife, but I assure you it will be far more rewarding than any 'God' in your world could ever give to you."
Rowan stood up as he felt the pressure from before vanish over him. Running up to the divine pokémon, he gave it the tightest hug he could muster. Arceus bent his head down to return the gesture.
"My request to thee is quite simple. I will have a pokémon in dire need of saving. You must find a team you trust, join them, and when the time comes, save her." Arceus whispered into his mind.
Within moments his vision began to blur and Rowan stepped backwards.
"You.. I uh… got it" Rowan said dizzily as he fell forward onto the soft grass. "Who?"
The world around him was fading fast and the air was becoming noticeably chillier. Arceus stood before him proudly, the green gems on his golden wheel glowing brightly.
"Your world says that God works in mysterious ways right?" Arceus chuckled. "Chalk it up to that. You'll know her when you see her."
Within moments his vision was blinded by the incandescent glowing of Arceus' gems, herding him into the void.