A strong breeze washed over Kody, jolting him awake. He opened his eyes, his vision a bit blurry as he blinked a few times to fully regain it. Weird. I don't remember leaving my window open.
He blinked one last time, finally able to see properly. However, what he saw was not his room. "What the... I'm on top of a tree!?"
Indeed, Kody now found himself perched at the very top of a massive tree, swaying around with the breeze.
He froze, his talons clutching the branch he sat on in a death grip. Wait. Talons?
He looked down, not even getting to examine his feet as something else caught his attention. I also don't remember going to sleep with a tie on. Do I even own a green tie?
He brought his hands to it to try and get it off, only to notice he no longer had any. Okay, talons, wings, and a green bowtie for some reason. I guess I'm some kind of bird now.
He squinted as he came to a conclusion as to why this could be. Oh, I'm dreaming! Duh, there's no other reason anything like this would happen!
He smiled. At least, as much as someone who'd had their mouth replaced by a beak could smile. I can do whatever I want! Acting on that thought, he jumped off the branch and spread his wings, expecting to be caught by the wind for an easy glide around.
Instead of the wind catching his wings, it flung him to the side, sending him plummeting down the tree. He hit quite a few branches on the way down, the feathers covering his body absorbing some of the blows but not all of them. After what felt like an eternity, he finally hit the ground at the base of the tree.
"Ugh," he groaned. "If this is a dream, why did that hurt so much?"
Wincing from the pain, he tried to push himself up with his wings, only to flop back onto the ground with yet another groan.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching from his left. They stopped as they reached him, at which point a familiar-looking yellow creature appeared in his vision. It leaned down to look him over. "Are you okay?"
Kody blinked, confused. "What's a Pikachu doing in my dream?"
The Pikachu chuckled. "This isn't a dream! Wow, that fall must've really screwed with your head, huh?"
Kody scoffed. "Well, maybe not for you, but it's definitely a dream for me. After all, I wasn't this bird thing when I fell asleep last night."
"You mean a Rowlet."
"A what?"
"A Rowlet. That's what you are."
Kody scrunched up his face, trying to remember. "That's... a Pokemon, right?"
The Pikachu looked genuinely concerned at this point. "Well, yeah. Did that fall give you amnesia, too?"
"No!" Kody tried to remember what happened before he woke up, but only came up with the previous day. Everything beyond that was either fuzzy or gone entirely. "Okay, maybe."
Wait, didn't some guy come up to my window? He gave me something. A DS? Yeah, and a game, too. Wasn't it... Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? Something happened when I played it, but I can't put my finger on it.
He raised his wings up in front of his face. Right. I don't have those anymore.
The Pikachu poked him, snapping him back to his current predicament. "So, do you need help or something?"
Kody sighed. "Yeah, I could use a hand getting up. These wings apparently aren't built for that."
The Pikachu quickly pulled him up onto his feet, leaving him tottering but able to regain his balance.
"Thanks," he said. "I probably would have been there a while without your help."
The Pikachu smiled. "No problem! I'm happy I was able to fix at least one of your problems. Now, do you have a name?"
"Yeah." At least I'm able to remember that still. "It's Kody. With a K."
"That's a pretty cool name, Kody with a K. I'm Zander. With a Z."
Kody nodded. "Well, thanks again, Zander. I'd love to stay and chat but I've got a dream to have." He turned around to walk off and promptly fell on his face.
Zander pulled him up again but this time kept a hand on Kody. "Still on the dream thing? Dude, you're not dreaming."
Kody shook his head. "But I must be! I'm not supposed to be this... Rowlet thing. I'm a human! At least, that's what I remember."
Without warning, Zander reached out and pinched Kody with his other hand. "Did that hurt?"
"Ouch! Yes!"
"Then you're not dreaming. End of story. Can't say I know why you remember being human, though. Sounds like another product of that fall to me."
"So you know what humans are, then?"
"I've heard some stories. Legends, really. Something about them saving the world a few times or whatever. I never paid much attention when I heard them."
"Saving the world?"
"Yep. Apparently, there's been a few times when humans were turned into Pokemon and sent to this world, beat up some bad guys, fulfilled some kind of prophecy, and saved the world."
Slowly, Zander turned to look at Kody, his eyes going wide. "What if... what if you're here to save the world?"
Kody shriveled under Zander's almost accusatory gaze. "Um... maybe? I have no idea!"
He felt Zander's grip on him tighten as he was pulled to Zander's side. Zander put his arm around him. "You're coming to my house. There's someone I need you to meet."
He started to walk, and Kody was practically dragged along with him until he found his footing. Even then, he couldn't quite keep up as Zander appeared to be in a hurry.
After a short while, they arrived at a simple mud hut. Zander rushed inside, dragging Kody with him.
Inside lay two cushions, a basket full of oddly shaped fruit, and a pile of sticks that barely resembled a table. At the table stood a Pokemon that Kody didn't recognize. It was mostly dark blue, with a few white stripes on its ears and tail. It also had striking green eyes that Kody quickly realized had noticed him staring. He looked away, but could still feel its gaze.
Zander let go of Kody and gave a little wave to the Pokemon. "Hey Steven, I'm back! I got someone here who might interest you!"
Steven kept his gaze on Kody but seemed disinterested. "And why is that?"
"He says he's a human!"
Immediately, Steven's eyes widened. He rushed over to Kody and began to examine him from all angles. Kody stood stock still, not wanting to interrupt.
Zander nudged him and whispered, "See? Steven's a real nerd for stuff like this. I'm sure he can figure you out. I still think you might be crazy, but I think it was worth a shot bringing you here."
Kody flinched as Steven grabbed and spread out his left wing. He watched as Steven studied what he saw, his eyes eventually landing on a certain spot. Kody followed his eyes and saw what appeared to be a crack just under the joint where his wing met his body.
Steven poked it, revealing it to only be a marking of some sort. "Interesting" He released Kody's wing and moved to stand in front of him. "You appear to be a normal Rowlet, with the exception of that marking. Now, what makes you say you're a human?"
"Well," Kody replied, "The last thing I remember before waking up here was being a human. I was in my room, at my house, when some weird grey guy showed up at my window. He gave me two things, a DS and a game for it."
Zander and Steven exchanged confused glances. "What's a DS?" Steven asked.
"Oh, right. I guess you guys wouldn't know about that is. It's this... thing that you can play games on. I really don't know how to explain it in detail. It has two screens and some buttons if that helps. Anyways, the guy gave me that and the game, which was Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, I think."
Steven once again looked confused. "Where you come from, there's a game based on actual phenomena here?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, there's mystery dungeons all over the place here. If you were unaware, mystery dungeons are places that never stay the same for too long, constantly changing and shifting due to some unknown force. The only constants are the number of floors any mystery dungeon might have."
Kody nodded. "Okay. Well, something happened when I played that game. I don't remember exactly what, but the next thing I remember is waking up on top of a tree."
Steven held a hand up to his chin, pacing around the small room. "Do you remember anything else?"
"Nope. Just that."
Steven continued pacing as Kody and Zander looked on, before coming to a sudden stop. "I have an idea. Have you seen your reflection yet?"
"No," Kody answered, confused.
"Well, perhaps if you were to see it, it would jog your memory. In legends of previous humans, when they saw their reflection and realized they had turned into a Pokemon, it was portrayed as very profound. Perhaps it jumpstarted their brains somehow."
Kody shrugged. "That sounds like a long shot, but I'm willing to try."
He watched as Steven drew a rectangle in the air. When he finished, many layers of what appeared to be refracted light appeared where he had drawn. With a look of intense concentration on his face, Steven forced the layers together. When they connected, they formed a passable mirror, showing Kody his own face.
That face... my face... it looks familiar.
That's when it hit him. "That's what happened! When I played the game on the DS, it sucked me into the screen! That face was the last thing I saw! I guess it was my face. My new one, at least."
The "mirror" dissipated, revealing Steven, who looked very exhausted, from behind it. "Whew. I've never tried using a Reflect like that before." He looked at Kody and the exhaustion seemed to melt off his face, replaced by an expression of triumph. "I was right, though. Seeing your reflection did help your memory."
"Yeah, it did. I can't remember much more, but I guess I know how I got here. I think."
Zander gazed at Kody, deep in thought. "Hey, what if we took you to our guild? Maybe there's someone there who knows what's up with you being here."
"Your guild?"
Zander dug around behind one of the cushions, searching through a small bag Kody hadn't noticed before. He pulled out a small golden badge and presented it to Kody. "The Floatzel Guild! Me and Steven here are members. Our leader is, like, crazy smart and powerful. Maybe he knows why you're here!"
"Sounds like another long shot, but it's not like I have anything better to do."
"Then let's go!" Zander exclaimed, practically dragging Kody and Steven out the door.
