Chapter 7: The Shift
I went to sleep, using what I had learned so far, I figured that my coming had something to do with the region's disease that Ho-Oh mentioned, but I couldn't think beyond that. I had started to dream, I felt that I was human again, I knew I was dreaming, I could tell from how the world was in a range of higher definition, I looked around, it was bland, although I could tell that something was meant to be explained, something strange, and I looked down.
The reflection I saw was the epitome of strange. I saw myself, but as a Zorua, I then looked up and saw another thing, Shawn, as a living being, but he was a plush…
"Derrek? How, I always thought that you were…"
"An imaginary friend? I always thought the same…"
"Can you look down and see what you are now?"
"Yeah, why…" I looked at his paws, his reflection was human, "So we traded places?"
"Must have, but how did I become human?"
"Something about accepting death as what will happen, feeling true hopelessness…"
"I've got something to do in the human world, I've gotta go."
"WAIT!"
"What?"
"Do you think you can come back? To the Pokémon world?"
"Yeah, I hope so, to meet you in person… That would be amazing."
"So I'm a Zorua too. Do you think that has anything to do with you?"
"We did switch places, what's funny is I went through the possessions of my current form, and found a Zorua plush. I'll be sure to keep it with me."
"Good luck in your quest."
"Good luck to you as well."
It was like a mirror, it was startling to see a mirror image, I couldn't understand what that meant for my future, but now I had another reason to finish this. I had to make sure the world Shawn was going to come back to was just as he left it. I would protect what is to be covered. I would protect what was his, mine, and the world's.
The dream shifted, I heard the girls voice from the first night I was here, I knew it wasn't the one who brought me. "Why do you live? Is it because your secrets sustain you? What is life worth? Who really are your friends? Do friends keep secrets from friends?" These words echoed around me tonight, she was doing something, but she couldn't make me feel hopeless. "Why bother with life? You will die, your friends will die, and your enemies will rule the world. What is your cause worth? Is it to the point of your life? Do you even know your own goals?" She had started to scream, "DO YOU EVEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO HELP YOUR FRIENDS NOW? ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO ALL THOSE YEARS AGO!" The voice was right before me, I pretended to wipe spit off of my face, and I scratched her's. It was invisible, I could only tell it was there from where the voice was. "You… YOU DARE TOUCH YOUR SUPERIORS? YOU WILL FALL TO A FATE UNBEKNOWNST TO THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE YOU, as now, death is far too kind." I struck again, knowing that the only reaction she would give is anger, as this is my dream, she can't flex her power without risking killing herself. I had her in check. "Go ahead, hit me again. I dare you, but only if you think it's enjoyable." I felt something strange, other presences were there, they were huddled in balls, I reached out, hoping to get their attention. "Don't bother, they're too far deep now. Dreams within dreams, isn't it a sight?" I reached out mentally, this time hoping to draw from the Dream Cube, it worked, they started fidgeting.
"WE MUST FIGHT HER! SHE KNOWS NO BOUNDS, AND DESERVES A BEATING! WE MUST DRIVE HER FROM OUR HEADS!" I knew that they were the others that came because of the calling. I could barely make out a figure. It looked like a fiery chicken, and I could feel rage radiating from the being.
"I'm tired of living in fear, the feeling I've had for my entire life. It ends today!" I couldn't tell if it was a male voice, or female's, but it definitely has the strength of two behind it. The chicken started to rampage on the invisible voice. Something was ferocious behind that being, a ghoul of pure hatred.
"WAKE UP! It's time to go." Jordan was screaming at me. He was certainly impatient about something, and I could tell that it was a unique event going on.
"Alright, alright, one moment." I yawned and stretched like a cat, who knew that just watching animals would teach you something about comfort. He started to pull me by my paw, he was nearly as impatient as a young child!
The object of his fascination was indeed a rare event. The street was lined with people. It was tough walking through, normally people would melt away, probably because we had done a bit to help the town. It seemed as though the people were busy with someone else...
"Yes, I know I'm famous! Stop crowding me!" The voice was ambiguous, youthful, and wise. The crowd seemed to be chanting 'autograph' over and over. "I get it! If you could stop pushing..." I tried to move closer, but others kept on pushing me out of the way.
"Hey! Where's your partner! You're nothing without him!" It was from the crowd, and the majority of the people crowd in agreement. It was going to turn ugly. Inside I was screaming at my instincts to pick something large and scary, and make it loud, I needed something to scare the crowd off, but I personally didn't know any large and scary Pokémon that I could reliably summon the image of. I roared, hoping to scare the crowd, I didn't know what I was but something inside told me Ursaring. It worked, the crowd was gone except for me and two others. "Oh that worked, thank goodness!" I sighed in relief, taking down the illusion. "Alright, time to go random guy I saved from ravenous horde of fans! Quick before they return!" I started running, hoping he was behind, lead him straight to Jordan's house.
"Long run for a random stranger. Thanks for saving me, I've heard this place is very explorative, so I came here to see if or was worth my partner's and my time. So, who are you?" The stranger was a sort of porcupine-mole fusion, it was the first time I payed attention to him. He was wearing glasses, and wearing a grey scarf.
"My name's Derrek. I'm part of an exploration team from the area." I said, rather plainly.
"I can tell the latter half, thanks for saving my hide… I can't say it enough. Who's your partner?"
"Hey, Derrek, I've been trying… You got him here? How?" Jordan's words hung around trying. He evidently saw who I was talking to at that time.
"Oh, the only other person who didn't bolt when they saw the Ursaring… Huh." The stranger answered his own question.
"Alright, well, I'm Jordan, I know your name, but you might want to say it for my friend here." Jordan was rather awkward.
"Well, my name is San. Me and my partner Cherry explore the world. Except recently we've been stopped by the Barrier. We're stuck in this region."
"The barrier? I haven't heard of that." Jordan not hearing of something? That's new.
"Yeah, it's an invisible wall, one that sends you back to the nearest town. Not many new teams or civilians have heard of it, as if mentioning it can cause panic."
"Ok, so where's Cherry?" Jordan seemed to know of San, I suppose he did say he was famous, but Jordan seems to be keeping a cool head.
"She should be on her way… I told her to meet me here to see if the Barrier was down near to here… At least if not we can do some exploration to try and find what's causing the Barrier." San was antsy, was he afraid of his partner? Then my mind skipped a beat.
"Wait, you don't have a disease in your area?" I said, confused, if the entire region was sick then why didn't he know of the supposed bought that Ho-oh mentioned?
"What? Is it contagious? Should I wear a face mask?" San was panicking, evidently you don't mention diseases near him.
"No, I believe it only affects the area and not the people." I said, rather unsure trying to sound sure, hoping that what I said is right.
"If that's so, then it might be why the Barrier is up! I've got to tell Cherry!" San was certainly excitable, how does he keep his cool in a mystery dungeon? "The moment I find her…"
"Alright, well, I hope you find her… I can't suggest going and looking for trouble here, there's no guarantee what you'll find anymore." Jordan was stating something that normally wouldn't need to be said, but times are different I suppose.
"WHERE IS MY PARTNER? I SWEAR I'LL KILL THE PEOPLE WHO KIDNAPPED HIM!" The voice boomed across the area, it was female, she seemed to try to be intimidating. It was working.
"She's quite the distance, it'll be a little before she can hear me. I suggest not showing your faces before I explain to her what is going on, she won't be a quick to forgive person." San sounded scared, his partner must have been unusually strong.
"You're going to meet Cherry? Try and keep her away from my house, it's made out of grass." Jordan applied stress to the second half of that last sentence, Cherry must be a fire-type. Oh dear.
"I SWEAR TO ARCEUS IF I DON'T FIND SAN, YOU ARE ALL DEAD!"
"Gah, I better get going. If I don't calm her she could burn down the town!"
"Bye San, good luck in calming her." I said, not really paying attention, something was distracting me, bugging me, but I didn't know what.
"Alright, let's go do some requests Derrek!" Jordan was excited, something was different.
"Why are you so happy?"
"We got an Urgent Request!"
"What's that?"
"When a person needs a request done really fast, and the results even faster, they send urgent requests to teams they trust! Usually it's something supposedly minor, but can be saving someone's life!"
"What? Who trusts us with their lives?"
"It's from Abra, the one you let go back in Resonant Bluffs!" He was seriously excited, if I were to keep a written journal every sentence would end in an exclamation mark. "He wants a berry that can only be found near Sandstorm Caverns, his doctor said that the berries there are the only one that can save him." He suddenly changed moods and sounded sad, and for good reason, someone's life is not a matter to be taken lightly.
"Alright, anything specific about the berry we're suppose to get?"
"Only that it has to be freshly picked. Other than that it only has to be there fast." He sounded a little happier, but he knew what was at stake. Evidently he hadn't read all the way through before reporting that we had an urgent.
"Alright, how do we get there?" I asked, not knowing the time limit of the request.
"I'm carrying you! It's no problem, I've carried heavier things!" I spun and saw Pelipper was the one who said that.
"Alright…" I was scared, I haven't been flying here, let alone with a living being as the method of transport. "Well, if it's time to go..." I said, not trying to display my fear.
Pelipper took of like a bullet, he was from ground to soaring almost instantly. I held on to the strap provided for this flight. The flight would have been fine of I had protection from the elements, the wind whipping against me was a horrible feeling. It was a short flight, but that doesn't make it better for my fears.
"We're here! Now hold on, it'll get bumpy from here!" I get the feeling I'm gonna have a bit of deja-vu.
"What? What do you mean?" I asked as he flipped upside-down, there was no way for me to hold on to the strap during this. I had started falling, it was one of my bigger fears, I had to scream something, "This is really bad. Badbadbadbad!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and the last half of what I was screaming just was repeating the word bad with no breaths in between. I felt the wind whistling past, and I braced myself to hit the ground, but I never did.
"Don't worry, it's the only way I could have gotten you down safely without taking unnecessary time. I was guaranteed to catch you with Whirlwind." Pelipper, remind me to punch him later.
"Derrek? Are you OK?" I was steaming, of course I wasn't okay! I had just fallen down from the heavens twice in the same week! "We're here, we better get moving." I am displeased with you Jordan, but I'll follow you. What are partners for otherwise?
"It's time to enter the dungeon, let's go." I said, quite upset about the entire situation, but I knew that the way we took was the only way to get there so fast.