A Whole New World:
Waking up in a cave was not what I had expected to happen after dying. Waking up at all was a shock to begin with. Most people would expect to find themselves in the hospital after being hit by a car on the way to class. That, or to not wake up at all. And considering I had been hit in the middle of the city it certainly did not make sense to wake up in a damp dark cave with no visible injuries from the accident. But the lack of injuries was hardly the weirdest thing to happen to my body…
I was tiny! Now, I can already say I wasn't exactly the tallest guy out there, but I was most certainly no longer my previous height of 5ft 8 any more. Standing in the dark I couldn't see what exactly had happened to me, but my limbs felt too short and my body too thin. Grasping at my face to try and calm the onrush of panic only led me to discover more to panic about. My stubble was gone and my hair was far shorter than I had remembered it being. Breathing became harder as I fought every instinct telling me to freak out.
Nearby was a shallow pool of water that appeared to have dropped in from a small opening in the roof of the cave that provided a miniscule amount of light. I stumbled over as best as my newly shortened legs would carry me and fell on my knees next to the puddle. In it I saw a face that was in fact still mine but one that I hadn't seen in ten years. I looked to be somewhere around 14 years old if I had to guess. My hair, which I had grown out to a medium length ponytail just to see what it was like, was back to the short length with slightly spiked front that I had had back then as well. My face was softer and less angled and my body was back in the awkward middle phase between a kid and an adult.
This couldn't be happening! It just couldn't! People don't just deage! I was in college studying Archaeology and suddenly I am shrunk and have no idea where I am! 'Ok Aaron, calm down! You are not helping yourself by freaking out.' I thought as I slowed my rapid breath as best I could.
I looked around for what was around me and found my backpack in the place I had previously been laying when I woke up. Rushing over, and tripping some more, stupid legs, I grabbed it and quicked pulled it open. Inside was everything I had put in there when I had been in the accident! Thank goodness I had packed it to be outdoors since I was headed to meet up with my class before heading out to conduct some field research. Inside I had my gear for archaeology such as a trowel, measuring tape, clipboard, and other miscellaneous things we needed. But the current items that gave me hope was the box of granola bars and half gallon bottle of water. Thank goodness. If I really was in the middle of nowhere at least I had some food and water. I certainly did not want to test if the puddle was sanitary. No need to be sick on top of being lost and magically deaged.
Checking my clothing I found that everything was the same as what I had worn to go into the field, although shrunk down to match my size which was great cause I doubt they would have stayed on my now 5ft scrawny frame. Not to say I was not scrawny at 25 as well but teenage me made my adult form look much better by comparison. Inside my pocket was my phone, however it looked different. The screen was no longer cracked,and the bland cheap gray case was replaced by a heavy duty red case that looked like it could take far more of a beating than my cheapo phone could. On the back was a symbol. A symbol I recognised…
A pokéball. The iconic red and white orb that was a huge part of practically everyone I knew as a kid. But why was it on my phone? I suddenly got a cold feeling in my chest. It couldn't be? With extreme trepidation I clicked on the device. What greeted me was not my lock screen or even my former background. No, instead it was a completely different screen which showed several options, the first one? Pokédex in bold font. The second was one I immediately clicked as fast as I could, the map. Popping up with a blinking dot indicating where I was on the map and giving me a new sense of dread. It was Sinnoh. I would recognise that map anywhere, after all gen 4 was my favorite of the pokémon games.
My prior freak out over my body was left completely in the dust. After all, what's a little physical change compared to finding yourself in a whole new world? And not only that, but a fictional world? Yeah I was not in any way ready for that.
The cave suddenly felt way too small, the walls feeling like they were watching me. 'Maybe they are.' I thought with a panicked recollection of all the times I had been ambushed by Zubat in the pokémon series when walking in caves. I certainly didn't feel up to meeting any of them right now. Deciding I needed to get out of here, I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder while staring at the map on my pho… pokédex, and was happy to see that the map had a function to indicate openings in caves. There was supposedly an exit to the south. And it even listed the name of the place. Wayward cave. Oh great.. I got lost here all the time in the games and now I get to do it in real life! Yay! Not to mention that there were baby dragon pokémon here as well and lets just say the Zubat aren't looking so bad in comparison.
Well, no time like the present I guess. I pulled out my compass from my backpack to find which way was south. The needle pointed somewhere in front of me before slowly turning toward behind me. "Bronz!"
"AHHHH!"
I whipped around to find a small metal plate floating right next to me. I stumbled back against the wall dropping my compass as I fell on my butt. The metal plate, which I now recognized as a Bronzor, floated lazily down toward the ground. It circled around the fallen compass a few times, changing direction abruptly before circling it again. The needle of the compass stayed pointing at the Bronzor wherever it floated. "Bronz!" it cried out in what seemed to be excitement before circling the compass once more.
Meanwhile I tried to regain whatever dignity I had left after my high pitched scream due to what amounted to a flying dinner plate. As my heart slowed down a bit I realized that the Bronzor was not even paying attention to me. It was just slowly floating this way and that around my compass. Now, I could leave my compass and get the heck away from it if I wanted to, but if I wanted even a chance of finding my way out of the caves I needed to find out which direction to head in. Well here's hoping pokémon are as friendly as the show made them out to be. "Hey there buddy, I'm gonna need that back please" I said with the best friendly voice I could manage in the current situation, which wasn't great if I'm honest.
Bronzor tipped it head up to gaze at me for a moment before tilting to the side in an inquisitive manner. If it had eyebrows I would expect one would be raised up. It was surprising to see how much of its expression I could understand given that it was basically just a disc of metal with eyes. As it gazed at me I felt a small pressure in the back of my head, kind of like the onset of a mild headache, before Bronzor leveled out and floated defensively between me and the compass. It stared hard at me before I felt the pressure again this time with a feeling, somewhere between the meaning of a word and a loose feeling of ownership. It felt like the feeling when your sibling wants one of your toys and all you can say is mine!
Pushing aside the feeling, which I had to guess was Bronzor's psychic typing coming into play, I gently lowered myself to a knee in front of Bronzor. "No Bronzor, this is my compass. I need it to get out of these caves." I tried my best to get across how much I needed it. The feeling in my head hadn't left yet so I assumed Bronzor was still in some way connected to me and that maybe it would understand.
Bronzor tilted to the side again before suddenly nodding. I smiled at it thinking it was gonna let me have my compass, before being left hanging as it suddenly levitated the compass to float next to it before speeding off in a random direction. "Hey!" I yelled before getting up and quickly giving chase. "Give that back!" I stumbled after it as fast as I could. My legs still felt awkward and Bronzor was moving pretty fast. 'I thought Bronzor was supposed to be a slow pokémon!
Sprinting through the cave system with Bronzor barely still in view, I berated myself for being so dumb. Of course I had to lose one of the only ways to get out of the Wayward caves to a mini flying saucer! While my inner rant continued I didn't realize that the area we were heading was getting brighter until I was blinded by a blinding light causing me to fall flat on my face.
"Bronz" was heard floating over my head. Groaning, I lifted my head to find a shock. I was outside! A gentle breeze flowed through my hair as I took in the area. We were in a small grass filled clearing with a few trees and large boulders sparsely placed every few feet away. Above my head was a large road that was up on support beams. After finally taking it all in I glanced over at Bronzor, "You helped me?" I asked.
Bronzor nodded its body back and forth before floating over to where it had apparently dropped my compass before resuming its circular dance around it, changing direction at random as if trying to trick the needle. I stared at it for a while before suddenly I started giggling uncontrollably. Here I was worried about being in a new world and possibly dying from getting lost when all of a sudden this goofy little pokémon saves my butt for no reason besides that it wants to play with my compass more and didn't want me to take it so instead Bronzor had me chase it to the exit.
Bronzor again floated over to me as I was laughing like a fool, tilting to the side again in confusion. Its eyes briefly glowed and I felt the pressure in my head again. Bronzor stared for a second longer before releasing a metallic clicking sound that resonated slightly. It took me a second to attribute the feeling it was sending because it was the same one I was feeling. Was it.. laughing with me? I stared in amazement as it continued for a short bit before leveling out in front of me. I suddenly had an idea. I was in this world with no sign of how I got here or any sign of if I will get back. Would it be so bad to have a friend along for the ride?
"Hey Bronzor, I know we only just met but would you like to come with me? We could hang out together and hey! You can play with my compass all you want when I'm not using it?" I know it was kinda a lame way to ask but it was the best I could come up with. Bronzor looked at me again before its eyes began to glow again. The pressure returned but only this time it was much stronger. It felt deeper in my head than before and felt like it was scanning, as if it was searching for something. It didn't hurt but it was very uncomfortable. I fidgeted a bit but tried my best not to fight it. In some way I knew that if I wanted Bronzor to come with me I had to pass this test.
After what felt like several minutes but was really only a few seconds, the pressure lifted and Bronzor nodded excitedly before pressing his face into my chest. I stumbled slightly from the force, still not quite used to my younger body, before breaking into a massive grin and hugging Bronzor to my chest. In all the panic of the day it felt nice not to feel alone. Bronzor was slightly cool to the touch and hard but it still felt comforting.
"Well buddy, guess we are in this together from here on out! I am Aaron by the way!" I said after we separated. "Bronz!" Bronzor likewise called out, as well as sending over a feeling of introduction that wasn't really any words or a feeling but almost like an expression of who Bronzor was. It was hard to describe but it certainly seemed to work. It was interesting and shed a little bit of light on the little metal disc and its personality. There was a solid firmness to it with just a hint of mischievous energy. It was honestly kind of surreal.
"Well then bud, shall we get going?" I asked. Bronzor nodded animatedly before flipping fully over in a frontflip before righting itself. I chuckled at its antics before turning and heading in the direction the overhead path was leading. "Well, let's see what this world has in store for us."
