As promised, this is so far the longest chapter of Otherside! The first parts were hard to write, but once I got into my groove, so to speak, it became a lot easier. This is largely a transition chapter, so the fact that it got long is rather impressive in my opinion, not to toot my own horn or anything like that.
I hope you guys will give me feedback on this part of the story. Happy reading!
As my conscious mind started to turn on again, and I could once more process the world I was physically in, rather than the one I was only dreaming about, I began to feel increasingly distraught.
I had been upset before, but I was even more so now. It was like waking from a nightmare, only to find that your nightmare is actually real.
I won't be seeing my sister again. It's time to swallow that pill and move on, because I've got a lot of afterlife left to live.
Opening my eyes was a bit of a challenge; not only were they fastened shut with sleep, but the large amount of tears being produced by whatever glands were used in this process made it nearly impossible to see anything.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, I had loved Paradise Island. How insane was it that my outlook had completely changed, a hundred and eighty degrees, in such a short period of time?
I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes in order to feel more awake. It was then that I became aware of the sunlight streaming into my room; I had slept all the way through until daybreak.
Oh no!, I thought to myself frantically. I'm going to be late for my chores!
However, within seconds, I remembered that, according to Amanda, I wouldn't have any chores today. They weren't assigned on Sundays, in order to promote the three R's: Rest, reflection, and relaxation.
I might rest. I'm definitely going to reflect. But I'm certainly not going to relax! But you know what they say: Two out of three ain't bad.
I realized that, although my dream had been distressing rather than outright terrifying, I was sweating bullets; a massive puddle of perspiration lay on the mattress, and I greatly regretted wearing a flannel shirt to bed.
Honestly, I can probably do away with flannel pajamas in general. This island is tropical; maybe if this were a world with more clouds, then I could do things differently.
The first thing I did once I had mustered the strength to rise from bed was to take a shower, for I felt so gross thanks to sleeping in my own sweat that it was basically required. I was relieved to be in a private space, even more private than my own bedroom, for it was here that I could let my feelings out, without fear of being heard.
Yes, the only one who might hear me was Amanda, but she didn't need to know about my family. After all, I didn't have the nerve to ask her any more about hers, so why should I give her more information than I already had, which wasn't much?
She's supposed to be my soulmate, though. My perfect match. If the concept of a soulmate is valid, then surely I should trust her more?
I felt that, in a universe where those who made it to paradise had loved ones who hadn't, nothing like soulmates could exist with that level of injustice. It was just like heaven, a fairy tale people told to give each other false hope.
As I wept away in the shower, rivulets of hot water circling the drain around my feet, I was determined not to let Amanda know about my family. Keeping the secret may end up being torture reminiscent of "the bad place", but letting it out would only be greater torture.
But what am I so afraid of? Even if I don't fully trust Amanda Mariner, it's not like this is some deeply embarrassing secret. There must be plenty of people here who miss loved ones.
Yes, that was an important thing to remember. I was definitely far from alone in this regard.
Once I was done showering, as well as drying off, I headed back to my bedroom to get dressed for the day. I did so fairly inattentively, and I happened to select the same golf shirt that Victor from the past had been wearing in my dream.
I looked up at the bookshelf. I had nearly finished Reckless Paradise, but there were plenty of other volumes there that were much thicker. While I could be a quick reader when I wanted to be, there were so many books that I'd be occupied for months, if not a year or two.
I picked up the Book of Arceus from the shelf and took it downstairs with me. I half-expected that Amanda would be reading the same book when I found her downstairs; there was little doubt in my mind that she would already be awake.
Stepping into the living room, I found a certain Braixen sitting on the couch, reading her own copy of this world's Bible. She seemed so engrossed in the book that she didn't acknowledge me at first.
"Hey, Amanda," I said, announcing my presence. "Good morning."
Amanda put down the book, and I saw that her eyes were just as red as mine probably were. I immediately wondered why.
"Good morning, Victor. Sorry if I don't seem too attentive right now; this book is just so interesting."
"It's fine" I replied, and it really was. While my reservations about telling Amanda about my dream were irrational, that didn't mean they weren't real. "How did you sleep?" I asked her.
"I didn't."
I opened my eyes so that they were wider than quarters. (Usually, when someone is taking a picture of me, I tend to squint. It's a rather bad habit of mine.) I simply couldn't believe it.
"You didn't sleep at all?" I asked her incredulously, sitting down on the couch next to Amanda. "Why not?"
"It's none of your business" the Braixen snapped, picking the book up again but not opening it. "I just didn't sleep."
"Staying up all night isn't something people here do for the hell of it. This isn't college."
"Yeah, well...look, sometimes I just can't sleep. It's the medicine I'm taking. Like I said, it has its side effects."
"If you say so" I replied. "But I can't help but worry just a little."
Amanda laughed. "Well, there's really no need for worry anymore. We're in paradise, Victor. Shouldn't all of our worries be gone, or at least so insignificant that they hardly even matter?"
Somehow, she didn't sound convincing in the least; indeed, she didn't even seem convinced herself. She was bullshitting me, and I knew it.
"Okay then" I said, still trying to process everything that I'd just mentioned with Amanda. "But I'm just wondering, what's for breakfast?"
She shrugged. "Whatever you can find for yourself. I really don't feel like cooking today, not after I baked the cake last night."
On some level, I'd known that Amanda had been the one behind the giant hunk of deliciosity, but now it was confirmed. "Thanks, it was really good."
"You're welcome" the Braixen replied, sounding as though she didn't consider me welcome at all. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more reading to do."
Amanda buried her nose back in the Book of Arceus again, so I saw no reason to try and talk anymore. Instead, I had the urge to go over to the computer and check Pillowtalk again.
Man, wouldn't it be nice if this place had proper access to the Internet? Shouldn't paradise have everything you could ever want, and then some?
I opened the computer, and, as it turned out, it was a very good thing that I'd had the foresight to check the social network for updates. Underneath the page for myself, Victor Chelan, there was one notice.
10:00 AM - Meet Professor Oak.
I gulped as I realized what that meant. Just two days after I'd arrived here in the afterlife, the professor was seeking another audience with me. It was anyone's guess as to what that meant.
Had I gotten myself into trouble, somehow? Surely it wasn't right to punish all of the attendees at the disastrous party, just for the actions of a few!
My palms were beginning to sweat, and my throat felt dry. As I stood up suddenly, my vision darkened, but I managed to keep my composure.
Breathing heavily, I tried not to think about what was awaiting me in Professor Oak's office. As everyone knows, however, when you try not to think about something, it'll only end up further ingrained in your mind. There's no escaping it.
I went back into the living room. For some reason, probably because I might have been in big trouble, I appreciated the room even more. I noticed the fireplace against one of the walls, the lights up above that weren't necessary during the day, even the bookshelves containing volumes in brown, red, green, and blue.
I knew the reason for my newfound appreciation, my new lease on the afterlife: This might be the last time I ever saw my living room.
Don't think so negatively, Victor, I mentally chastised myself, putting a hand to my head. For all you know, maybe Professor Oak wants to reward you for something, not to punish you!
That seemed like wishful thinking to me. I just couldn't fathom this being good news.
Amanda, sensing my presence in the room once again, slammed her book down on the coffee table. "Is there anything you need?" she asked in a rather coarse manner.
I need for you to take a nap, so that you aren't so cranky with me! Those were my thoughts, but not my words.
"I'm heading over to Professor Oak's office. He wants me to be there by ten, I saw the announcement on Pillowtalk. What could it be?"
There was a glint in Amanda's eyes as she responded. It seemed as though she were having an epiphany of sorts.
"Oh, Victor...I think today's the day."
"Today is what day, exactly? The day I get sent to the darkest corner of the Underworld?"
"No" the Braixen replied, her ear twitching. "You're probably going to begin the process of becoming a Pokemon. Although it took a week for me to start the process, you might begin sooner."
"Why?" I asked, for this confused me to no small degree. "Why do I start it sooner than you did?"
Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "Professor Oak works in mysterious ways, I guess. Anyway, you should probably leave now if you want to be there on time, and get some breakfast in town."
I glanced at a nearby clock and saw that she was right. It was already half past eight; I'd slept later than I'd thought. In addition, I knew that it would take me some time to find the office; I'd already forgotten the route I'd taken through the capital city last time.
And so I grabbed the map I'd received from Lauren on the first day and left the house.
As soon as I was outside, I became aware that the sea breeze was stronger today than it had been yesterday. The wind was causing the various types of flowers to sway gently from side to side.
I've never been much of a gardener, but I could certainly learn now. I can wait as long as I like to pick it up, and practice as much as I want. It would be nice to have a flower garden as spectacular as this!
Along the way, I came across a Mankey climbing a coconut palm. He was barking at me happily, as though trying to encourage me to climb the trees with him.
"It doesn't work that way, buddy. I'm sorry" I said with a small chuckle. "I don't think I'm light enough to climb those trees."
The Mankey responded with a series of grunts reminiscent of a monkey from Earth, although I'd never seen one in the wild. I came to realize that this was probably a Wild Pokemon, as evidenced by the fact that he couldn't speak English.
The only thing I could gather from the Mankey's demeanor was disappointment. He really wanted me to play with him in the trees, but I was far too big for that.
Maybe he can't understand me, either. I think I'd do well to keep my distance; I don't want "getting mauled by a Mankey" on my afterlife resumé.
Bearing in mind what Amanda had told me earlier, I wondered if I'd end up being assigned Mankey as my new species. Perhaps I'd end up climbing trees, swinging from branch to branch, and eating coconuts for sustenance.
And then if I ended up encountering Wild Mankey, that would certainly be an interesting dynamic. Would the Wild ones treat me as one of their own, or would they turn on me at the earliest opportunity? And what would happen if they did "turn on me"?
Most tropical paradises allow you not to think. They're luxurious, all-inclusive resorts where all your needs are catered to, and you don't have to worry about anything, least of all the philosophical questions underpinning our very existence.
Paradise Island, Alola was nothing like that, to say the very least.
A few minutes after seeing the Mankey up in the palm trees, I witnessed another beautiful sight of Wild Pokemon.
This time, it was a Pichu and Pachirisu holding hands and dancing in a small garden. There were yellow and blue flowers in the flowerbeds, and the fountain in the center of the garden made a very pleasing trickling noise.
"Wow, you guys are having fun, aren't you?" I said wistfully, in a voice quiet enough that even Pokemon, with their sensitive ears, probably wouldn't be able to hear it.
To these small, adorable creatures, Paradise Island truly was paradise, or so it appeared to me. While I'd never claimed to be capable of reading minds, they sure appeared to be living carefree lives or afterlives.
I'm sure that not every Pokemon here is a deceased human being. I HAVE to believe that, because if I might become a Wild Pokemon, I'd lose all ability to communicate with Amanda and the others!
As much as I hated to leave the gorgeous garden, I had an appointment to make. I wouldn't even have time to eat breakfast in Enil Edam if I stayed here much longer.
This could be the beginning of the end of my existence as a human. For all I know, maybe Amanda was wrong; maybe the transformation happens a lot more quickly.
But why would she be? She went through it herself, didn't she?
Maybe she was lying just to make me feel better. But I don't want to believe that. Of course, the universe doesn't exactly care what one WANTS to believe.
Since nobody had any assignments today, Enil Edam was bustling when I passed through the gate that indicated the entrance to the capital city. People and Pokemon were talking with one another and wandering the square as I pushed my way through the crowds.
"Hey, Victor!" announced a voice from behind me. I thought I recognized it, but I turned around to make sure.
Zapo, the Zoroark whom I'd picked mangoes with, was grinning at me. "I see you survived the party to end all parties."
"You heard about how badly it went?" I replied, mouth agape. "That they had to end the Billy Talonflame concert early?"
Zapo nodded sadly. "That's why it was the party to end all parties. It's official: There won't be another bash at the Maximus Mansion, at least not on the same scale. It was announced on Pillowtalk this morning."
I felt no reaction to this news at all. It's not like I had any particular attachment to that place; indeed, part of me never wanted to attend another party again after that disaster.
"Good to know" I told Zapo, rubbing the back of my neck as though relieved to know it was still there. "That was a pretty scary event, though."
"Oh?" the Zoroark asked me, tilting his head back until his large ponytail touched the ground.
"Yeah. They were throwing dishes all around after Cyrus smashed the cake. Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to be there."
"Fair enough. By the way, what are you doing in town? Isn't today the Sabbath or whatever it's called on Earth? I already forgot what the living called today. Was it Sunday?"
"Yeah" I replied, feeling a bit exasperated that Zapo had already seemed to be adapted to island life. He was used to this, and I might never be. I would always think of today as Sunday, not as the Sabbath Day.
At any rate, with a start, I remembered what the Zoroark had just asked me. "I came here to visit Professor Oak. You're pretty good with directions, right?"
Zapo shrugged. "Yeah, but if I remember correctly, it's only been two days since you arrived here. Are you telling me that you've already forgotten the way to the professor's office?"
I didn't want to admit it, but the answer was yes. Rather than nodding, I stared into the Zoroark's teal blue eyes with my own eyes, which were a different shade of blue. I hoped I was achieving the "puppy dog" look that would compel him to give me the answer.
"I guess you did forget. Well, not to worry, they sell maps of the city for five - wait, have you gotten your weekly stipend yet?"
With so much going on, I had forgotten to check my mail for the checks Professor Oak had promised us back at Orientation. It simply hadn't crossed my mind, but now that the full force of Zapo's words hit me, I realized what he was saying.
In order to pay for the map, I'd need to have money. In order to have money, I'd need to go to the bank, wherever it was in Enil Edam. In order to give the check to the bank, I'd need to go back to the house on Palm Drive.
But, most crucially, in order to return to the house, I would need more time. And time was not on my side, nor was stamina.
I was honest with Zapo, as painful as telling the truth turned out to be. Every word I spoke felt like a tiny little shank to the heart. But this is what I said:
"Yes, I should have gotten the stipend, but I didn't look in the mail. So now I have to go back home to get it, but I don't have enough time. I just don't."
The Zoroark seemed to come up with a potential solution right away. He didn't seem very confident that it would work, but this situation was fast becoming desperate.
"Just go to the bank and tell them that you forgot your check and you have an urgent need for a map. Hopefully they won't turn you away, and I bet that if you're a few minutes late, the professor won't be too mad at you."
"Zapo, I live three or four miles away! I'm going to be more than a few minutes late if I go back."
The Zoroark put his paws on his hips, as though daring me to argue against him. "Well, you can either walk an extra seven miles this morning, or hope that the bank forgives you. It's your choice."
He was right, of course; those were my only two options. Ultimately, without much time to make a decision, I settled on which path I preferred.
"I'll head to the bank" I replied curtly, sighing. "Where is it?"
Zapo pointed towards the entrance to a flea market, conveniently marked by a purple archway labelling it the BIKAL FLEA MARKET. "You go through there, and it's a straight shot to get to Gota Bank. If you get lost, you'll only have yourself to blame."
By this time the Zoroark seemed to be getting a little annoyed with me, so I didn't need to stick around. I waved good-bye at him and walked underneath the purple sign.
A sizable number of Pokemon were currently in the flea market, and it struck me just how colorful this area was. Most of the goods being sold were blankets, pillows, and clothing, and they were available in a veritable rainbow of hues. I almost wished I could have bought one for myself.
With all of the Pokemon came a great deal of noise; it was rather overwhelming to hear so many of them talking amongst one another, all discussing their mornings, or else their plans for the rest of the day off from chores.
I WISH I had a day off today. But sadly, it's just not in the cards.
All of the Pokemon (and the group was entirely made up of Pokemon; I didn't see any humans in the mix) were clearly on the other side of the great transition. They'd been just like me once, just as human. Hopefully they'd been just as nervous, too.
It's just like when I got my driver's license, or when I graduated from high school. Everyone has these moments in life where they feel like the world's about to end. The only difference is, this might end up being rewarding.
Anyway, I heard my stomach growling as I passed by what looked like a coffee shop. I'd never been one for caffeine, but coffee shops almost invariably sold various types of pastries, and I sure could have gone for a donut or something right about now. Alas, I had no money with me.
"Sir, would you like to buy a carpet?" a Turtwig asked me from behind his desk. "They're thirty percent off today; it's the special Sunday sale!"
"I would if I could, but I promise you I can't" I replied, frowning. "No money."
"Are you sure? I'd make it a fifty percent sale; I need to get these off my hands, and I'm not allowed to give them away for free."
I gnashed my teeth together so that the interior of my mouth would no longer be visible. "I. Don't. Have. Money. No means no."
Clearly, the Turtwig was reluctant to take no for an answer. He didn't seem to comprehend that someone here could lack funds, and, truth be told, why shouldn't he be surprised by that? It had been my own shortsighted error not to collect the check in the mail.
Eventually I made it to the bank, which was a bright orange building with magenta columns holding up the archway over the entrance. It stood at the end of the street, and it was a dead end. The only way back would be through the flea market.
Seeing that the bank operated twenty-four hours a day, I knew that there was no excuse not to step inside. I was a bit worried about asking for help, but I didn't have any alternative.
The interior of the bank was rather extravagant, rather reminiscent of pictures I'd seen of Grand Central Station in New York City. The floor and walls were made of marble, and there were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
Wait a minute...it can't have been more than three stories tall on the outside. It's gotta be at least a hundred feet from here to the ceiling.
There was something about the chamber's sheer size that I found unnerving. Every step I took reverberated around the cavernous room like a cannon blast. It wasn't until I was halfway across that I caught a glimpse of the woman on the other end.
I recognized this woman, although I'd only seen her once before, and only briefly at that.
"Lauren!" I exclaimed, remembering how she'd helped me on my first day here (even if she could have done more.)
"Hi there" Lauren responded in a tone that sounded both robotic and friendly. It was then that I became certain of one thing: She would give me what I needed.
"You run this bank? But aren't you also Professor Oak's office assistant?"
Lauren winked at me, smiling broadly. "I work in mysterious ways, Victor Chelan. I'm not bound by the same laws you humans are."
I was having a hard time wrapping my head around this revelation, even if I really shouldn't have been. "So you can be in two places at once?"
Showing off her perfectly white teeth, Lauren chuckled. "I am everywhere and nowhere, Victor. I can't be in two places at once, because I am in all places at once."
And then I felt like an idiot, even more than I had for the blunder that necessitated today's trip to the Gota Bank. How could I not have realized this was a possibility?
"That's pretty cool," I admitted. Then, getting down to business, I placed my hands on the counter and made my request. "I'd like to cash my check, although I don't have it here with me."
"Why don't you have it with you?" Lauren asked me, in a polite tone rather than an accusatory one. She didn't shake any of my faith that she'd fulfill my request.
There was no reason not to be honest with her. "I forgot to pick it up. My mistake. Didn't Professor Oak say that it would be made available after Orientation?"
Lauren nodded. "Your weekly stipend is one thousand, five hundred dollars, which translates to $78,000 a year. Given that you don't need to pay anything for housing, that money will go far, so long as you don't spend it all in one place."
How would I spend fifteen hundred dollars a week in one place? That's one hell of a generous stipend!
Back to the point, the woman raised a finger and looked at me, sternly but also kindly. It might seem ridiculous that two contradictory emotions could exist on her face at once, but they did.
"I will let you access that money without a check, just this once. But in the future, you need to be more attentive. Do you understand me?"
After I nodded, showing that I indeed understood Lauren, she reached into seemingly thin air and produced fifteen hundred-dollar bills. I could feel my pupils dilating; I'd never seen that much money at once for me to use.
"This is yours" she told me blankly. Then, with the same toothy smile she'd had earlier: "What are you going to do with this money, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Going to buy a map" I explained, not realizing at the time that Lauren probably had one with her. She'd given me one the other day, without any visible hesitation on her part, so it should have been trivial for her to grant me one now. "I've got a meeting with Professor Oak at ten."
Once more out of thin air, Lauren handed me a scroll of parchment that hadn't been there a second ago. My mouth opened widely in awe; seeing her ability to conjure items had quite an effect on me.
"The ideal route to your destination is marked in red" the woman said casually as I looked at the map. True to her words, the network of black lines against the golden brown parchment was punctuated by a string of red lines.
"This is really helpful, Lauren," I replied, breathing heavily but practically beaming at this point. "Thank you so much!"
"It's no problem. Whatever you may need, simply seek one of me out and I'll help you with it. After all, that is what I'm here for."
Even with my path being clearly marked on the map, there was a sizable difference between looking at the map and finding the way to go, and actually navigating the congested streets of Enil Edam to the destination.
As I walked along the avenue, back through the flea market, several vendors tried to get me to stop and look at what they were selling. However, I paid them no mind; I was a man on a mission.
The city really was gorgeous; all over town, I could smell fresh fruit, hear the bubbling of fountains in various small parks, and marvel at the differently-colored buildings. I only regretted that I didn't have the time to enjoy it.
Eventually, I reached a square that I recognized from the day before yesterday. There was the common green in the middle, with a fountain twenty feet tall that had a statue of Arceus in the middle. In addition, a nearby sign proclaimed this as Statue Square.
So now I know what this square is called. Of course, the more important thing is that Professor Oak's office is right here, somewhere...think, Victor! What color was the building you exited out of on the first day?
Fortunately, having remembered that wasn't as important as I'd believed it to be. A building that looked to be made out of stucco, but was painted indigo, had a sign on top of the door that designated it as PROFESSOR OAK'S OFFICE.
If I'd had one of those buttons with me, the ones that say "That was easy" when you press them, I would have mashed that button like a professional gamer. I nearly facepalmed, embarrassed to have overthought it so much.
Once inside, I found that I was in the same nondescript waiting room that I'd woken up in at the beginning of my afterlife. There was still a line of chairs against the wall, but I noticed something that hadn't been here the first time; namely, an analog clock mounted up there.
I have five minutes to spare. And they might be the longest five minutes I've ever waited.
Even though my legs were fairly tired from having walked so far, I was far too restless to sit. Instead, I found myself pacing back and forth in the waiting room as I pondered what, exactly, might be the reason Professor Oak had called me here.
Amanda, of course, had her own belief in this regard. She thought I was going to start the process of becoming a Pokemon, which in itself was rather nerve-wracking. But it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other possibilities running through my mind.
I didn't do anything wrong! I tried to defuse the situation at the party any way I could! Would that not count for something?
After a few minutes had passed (which felt more like an equal number of hours), the door opened. Professor Oak leaned out into the waiting room, smiling at me.
"Victor? Come on in" he said.
Compared to the last time I'd seen him, during my Orientation meeting, he appeared a lot more relaxed. This wasn't surprising, since, if I remembered correctly, he'd had a lot of cases to process that day. Perhaps he was taking a Sabbath just like the residents.
I stepped into the professor's office, this time taking in every detail. The cactus was still on his desk, yes, but I noticed all of the portraits on the walls as well. Most of them looked like they were depicting Professor Samuel Oak himself.
"Good morning, Victor," the professor told me as I sat in the chair in front of the desk. "How are you liking Paradise Island?"
Immediately, my stomach dropped like a freight elevator whose chains had been cut. If I were to tell the truth, that this place had its highs and lows, then I would very likely end up offending the professor, and offending Professor Oak could have deadly consequences.
No. Scratch that, I'm already dead. Offending him would probably have worse-than-deadly consequences.
It was a tricky balancing act, because I had to come up with an answer quickly that would please him, while at the same time sounding as though I believed what I was saying. The pressure was real.
"I'm really enjoying my time here" I replied. "I've made a lot of new friends; I went to the party at the Maximus Mansion last night."
Professor Oak nodded, smiling at me. "I am pleased to hear that. Of course, the party itself didn't go exactly as planned; a bit of a snafu regarding the cake, wasn't there?"
I snorted; I couldn't help myself, and I found that laughing calmed my nerves just a little. "I think snafu is putting it mildly, Professor Oak."
"Okay. Would total disaster work better? Because that's how it seemed to me, although I did not attend the event."
He's lucky. Or rather, smart; he probably knows a lot more than I ever will.
"Of course", the professor continued, "it wasn't entirely by choice that I didn't visit. I had a lot of applications to process yesterday, and didn't have any time for leisure."
I found myself breathing a sigh of relief, and my heart slowed down a bit. Although I probably wasn't entirely out of the woods, Professor Oak's willingness to engage in small talk indicated, most likely, that he hadn't called me here to punish me.
"At any rate, you are probably wondering why you're here today. Well, the answer's pretty simple, so I'm going to cut to the chase. I can only assume you've noticed a wide variety of Pokemon during your first few days here?"
"I have" I replied, my heartbeat quickening again. It seemed as though Amanda had been right, that today was the day I'd follow in her footsteps.
"This might rock your world, but your soulmate, Amanda Mariner, was not always a Braixen. She was once a human, just like you."
"I knew that" I blurted out, resisting the urge to clamp my hand over my mouth once I realized that saying this might not have been a good decision. "She told me as such."
Professor Oak raised an eyebrow. He didn't look angry, just confused or, more accurately, surprised. His eyebrow was too far elevated for it to indicate confusion.
"Well then. I didn't think she would tell you that, but here we are. That gets us to why I summoned you here today, which is to find out which Pokemon species you are most aligned with."
There were a lot of butterflies in my stomach as the professor spoke to me. He spoke confidently and clearly, as though he'd said these words thousands of times before; which, of course, he probably had. The room suddenly became very hot, but that might have just been me.
"H-how will you determine that, sir?" I asked, stammering as I did so from sheer nerves.
"There will be a written exam, as well as a practical one. You will take the written exam first, in a cubicle just down the hallway."
"Wait a minute, what hallway?" I asked, positively dumbfounded. In response, Professor Oak simply snapped his fingers.
How insane would it be to be able to make things happen just like that, with one simple finger snap? It would sure have been convenient on Earth!
Sure enough, seconds later, an emerald-colored door appeared on the wall to my right. I remembered a door appearing there the other day, except that one had been a different color.
Something about the shade of green being used gave me the creeps, but I tried not to worry about it. Even so, it almost felt like the entrance to a dark dungeon deep underground.
"Hello? Paradise to Victor?"
I snapped out of my own thoughts as Professor Oak pointed at the green door. "There you are, I thought you'd fallen asleep for a second! Anyway, once you head through that passageway, you'll find a room with thirty-six office cubicles. One of my Laurens will lead you to your assigned cubicle, where the test, consisting of both short-answer and multiple-choice questions, will be waiting for you. There is to be no answer-sharing with anybody else in the room."
At that moment, memories from taking the SAT came flooding back to my mind. If I'd thought the stakes for the SAT were high, well, they didn't hold a candle compared to this!
"I'm not going to share answers" I replied matter-of-factly. "I promise on the River Styx...wait, do we use that oath here?"
I'd used a phrase from a book series I'd read when I was younger, when a character was making an oath to keep with a final breath. Only now did I realize just how silly I sounded saying it in real life.
The professor shook his head. "No, Victor, the River Styx doesn't exist. It's just a myth, and it's not like the "myth" of Pokemon. It's an actual myth, simply not true."
"Got it" I replied, my legs trembling and my toes tapping against my shoes. I was eager to get this over with and head back to Palm Drive, and then enjoy the rest of my lazy Sunday.
"And that's that," Professor Oak told me. "Now, head through that door, and I'll see you on the other side."
What an interesting choice of words. Aren't I already on the "other side"?
I opened the door, closed it behind me, and took a look at what lay ahead.
And there you go, that was the seventh chapter of Otherside! As of the time I'm posting this, I am nearly finished with the eighth chapter as well. I'd like to thank everyone for their support of this story, it means so much to me.
I'll try to wait three days for the next chapter. We'll see how that goes. Either way, you guys are awesome.