As we strolled back, her words kept echoing in my mind. If what she said was true, it meant every Pokemon on this island had a reason to put me six feet under. It was a truth I couldn't bear, and even though I had seen the signs before, I refused to face it until now. I just wanted to believe that someday, somehow, I could tell my roommates- my only friends- the truth, and that they'd understand. But now, I knew they could never love me if they found out.
Tony and Kecleon were the exceptions. The gems in the rough. I was thankful for them, but I couldn't help but wish I could rewind time and go back to before all this ever happened.
But something else she said sparked a glimmer of hope in me: The idea that there might be other human spirits here gave me comfort. Maybe they're watching over me, and I'm not entirely alone in this situation.
But either way, until I find a way off this island, I'm stuck here with duties to fulfill.
"Ah, there you are!" Elizabeth turned to us as we entered the house. She was sitting at the table in the kitchen, reading a piece of paper as she drank from a cup. She began to speak but Aza cut her off.
"He knows about today's mission. Let's just decide who's going," she spoke, getting straight to the point.
"So, any volunteers?" Elizabeth was caught off-guard at first but was quick to get back on track.
"I'll do it," I quickly answered, looking to gain favor with my roommates.
"That means I'll go as well," Tony announced, and we all looked around for the third and final volunteer.
Mark and Grey looked at each other, shrugged, and left. "You'll figure it out," Aza said, and she followed suit.
Just as I noticed Toz and Ian weren't even in the room, Elizabeth begrudgingly volunteered by necessity.
It was a delivery mission. All we had to do was pick up a box of items and carry it around to a bunch of stops. An average night was slept away and the day came, so it was time to get up early and get it done.
The candy store was our first stop, then Marill at the guild, Snivy at the food bank, and then there were stacks of mail left for dozens of houses. There weren't too many stops to be made for those, seeing how most people lived in groups, but they were still a good walk away from each other.
However, something happened on our way to the last house, and I'm not really sure how to describe it. A staircase appeared inches away from my face, and I felt a compulsion stronger than any other to stop what I was doing and sprint up it as fast as I could.
I dropped the last letter to the ground as I climbed up the side and to the top. I could hear clambering behind me, indicating that the other two had the same compulsion. I don't know why I did it, it was just something that happened to me.
Just as I reached the last step and prepared to jump off the other side, I found myself in an obscenely brightly lit forest. I blinked, realizing what had just happened.
I squinted in instinctual reaction to the fierce light, but I could still make out the figures of trees all around us. They were discolored, with peachy white bark and dense orange leaves.
I groaned, trying to open my eyes bit by bit. Everything was shiny and reflective, and if I tilted my head in the wrong way, I would get blinded by an orange beam of light.
"Well, count your lucky stars, everyone!" I heard a voice behind me announce, and I turned to see Tony looking at our delivery map. "I mean really, count your lucky stars. I'm pretty sure we are in Victini's dungeon, and Victini is the Pokemon of luck."
Elizabeth was awestruck. "Wow, never thought I'd end up in one of these."
"I've never been in one either. How do they work?" I asked, and Tony was all too eager to explain.
"You see, this isn't like a human-made dungeon. It's powered by a legendary Pokémon, and if you find them inside, they can grant you wishes, fix past screw-ups, make you stronger, or even get rid of your bad luck – like this dungeon!" Tony sounded like he had recited the speech a thousand times before this, his excitement was apparent.
"So, we'll all walk outta here luckier, huh?" I chuckled, and Tony was quick to correct me, "no, only one person can get it."
That was all I needed to hear. My vision had finished adjusting by now, and I saw a nearby door, so I leaped towards it. It was a round and heavy stone leaning up against a wall of thick bark. It rolled out of the way without me even doing anything as if it was inviting me inside.
I obliged and ended up in this tight airlock-like chamber with a second door at the end. As the first door closed behind me, the light from our starting room was shut out, but I still heard their muffled conversation continue.
"With just three of us, my odds are pretty good," Tony said.
Before I could continue listening, however, the door in front of me rolled open, and I proceeded into another room just like the first. But this time, in each of the four walls was another door.
'Great, a maze,' I thought, choosing one at random.
The odds of this world were stacked against me, and I would kill to get rid of my bad luck. Yet room after room after room, nothing changed. Just sticking to the right wasn't an option, as that would just lead me in circles; so I just chose a random door every time. Some rooms were big, some were tiny. None of them held any clues on how close I was to being done.
Suddenly, a different-looking door appeared. It was still a round stone, but it was a golden yellow, with twinkling light shimmering off of it. Without hesitation, I ran in, ready to take any sign I could get.
What I was not expecting was for there to be a pit of ice-cold water on the other side. I fell down into the water, just barely keeping my head above so I didn't inhale any. The door shut behind me, leaving me in complete and total darkness.
Clinging onto the wall, I realized that the last time I swam was back when I was still a human.
"HELP!" I called out in English out of pure fear.
There was no response. "PEK!" I screamed again, correcting myself to their language.
Still, it was silent.
Taking a deep breath, I looked down into the water. The tunnel descended straight down, then curved sharply. The water was crystal clear, and with the night vision this body gave me, I could see faint light emanating from around the curve. Maybe the tunnel led back to the surface?
I thought about it for a long time. What stroke would I use? How far away was the light really? How large is my lung capacity even?
But I had no other option, so eventually I was forced to drop down and take the icy plunge.
It took a moment of getting used to it, but I eventually settled on a mutated version of a breaststroke to cross the barrier. Still, it was slow, and I could feel myself getting weaker with every stroke. Finally, I saw the light above me.
I turned upwards so I could resurface, and…
Nothing. I couldn't swim up fast enough to even counter gravity.
'So this is how it ends?' I thought, 'Being given a second chance at life, and I die in a puddle of water.'
I knew I couldn't accept it for an answer, and I violently thrashed around until my paw struck a piece of rock. 'That's it! The wall!'
Getting my bearings, I latched onto the wall again and climbed up to the other side.
Pulling myself onto the floor, I must have spent a full thirty seconds just breathing before I even looked up at my reward.
There they were, Victini in the flesh, levitating a few feet into the air. They were the same color as the trees, with an orange V-shaped top and peachy white fur. Its bulbous blue eyes had been staring me down the entire time.
"Well, this is new," Victini spoke first, eying me down. I coughed before responding.
"What is?"
"In my two centuries of operating this dungeon, you're the first human to make it here." they saw right through me, and I heard my only exit sealing itself shut behind me.
"You're here because you think you've been the victim of misfortune, right?" Victini spoke in an accusatory tone, but I barely noticed.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Let me show you something." They were quick to follow up like they had been expecting my answer
I blinked, and then we were in a pure white room. I stared at myself, seeing that I was in my human form again. I was wearing the same clothes as the last day of my life; a blue polo and khakis. Lifting up my shirt, I saw the same claw marks I had felt driven into me so long ago, but they didn't hurt anymore. They were just there, like a strange pattern across my chest.
"Not only are you a human, but you're also the luckiest person I think I've ever seen." They flew close to my face, causing me to recoil before they flew away again.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, and I felt reality shift again.
There was a line-up of eighteen humans in front of me, some of them I even recognized. Like me, they were all covered in wounds, or missing limbs, or burned to a crisp. They were all dead.
"What is the meaning of this?" I asked, confused, just in time for me to go back to being a Jolteon again. The line-up of humans also all changed with me. Chimchar, Snivy, Flareon, and many more.
"Like you, all of these humans were murdered, and transformed into Pokemon."
"Right," I responded, allowing them to continue.
"...Unlike you, however, they're all dead. Most within the hour. You're one of two humans to ever make it past a day. Absolutely everything fell in your favor for you to make it this far." They stared at me, expecting me to speak.
"Alright, I think I understand now. You're telling me I'm too lucky for this?" I questioned, wondering what they were getting at.
"Now you're getting it. The only thing that I would call bad luck is that you just so happened to be born on this very specific island so that you could be killed. But changing birthplaces is more of Dialga's thing anyway, so go there instead. But while you're here, I might as well let you in on a little secret."
"What is it?" I eagerly asked.
"...Nothing." They paused for a moment, thinking. "Anyways, I need to figure out what to do with you now."
"Can I give this to one of my friends instead?" I suggested, trying to help.
"Sure." Before I even had time to respond, they teleported me back into the room where we started, and I found myself in the middle of an argument.