"You never cease to amaze, you know?" His boss asked as he gently stroked the content husky on the operating table. Seth Bishop looked up at the elderly woman, smiling at him and the dog, who had a very distinct set of stitches on her chest, and two legs, one hind and one front, wrapped in bandages. "It's crazy how the animals are always so content around you." Julia Morisson, practicing Veterinarian, told the young man.
"It's been like this ever since I was born." Seth said with a small smile, scratching the dog behind the ears. There was no real explanation for it. Ever since he could remember, animals of all kinds had loved him. His parents' pets liked him more than they did his parents, wild animals never bothered him, and when he volunteered in animal shelters in his teens, the ones that usually kept away from the volunteers and employees had no issue with him being around, much less touching them. "It's a gift." He shrugged.
"That's a stray husky that just came out of anesthesia after being hit by a car." Julia pointed out, removing her glasses. "She should be distraught and terrified, instead, she's sipping water and lying down happily with her head under your hand." She shook her head. "I have to get a picture of this." She said, pulling out her phone. With an eye roll, Seth allowed for a small smile to show on his face as Julia lined up the phone. As the flash shone, it caught the attention of the large dog, who immediately looked in the direction of the light, her luminous, dark blue eyes featuring prominently in the photo.
"Send that to me, will you?" Seth asked, grabbing his cane and standing up from the stool.
"Is your back ok for closing tonight?" Julia asked, seeing the time was almost 7pm.
"I should be fine." The vet's assistant responded, limping over to the sink with his cane so he could wash his hands. "I have my pills if it flares up, and if all else fails, I'll sleep in my car." he quipped, making the Vet shake her head in amusement.
"Well, if you're certain." She said finishing up with her own cleaning. "Shaggy and Luna need their follow up injections before their owners pick them up tomorrow, and just check to make sure Nova's sutures are still holding." She told him. "Also, remember to give Shadow the diet kibbles, she's fat enough as is." She added mirthfully, referring to the large female Collie that had been admitted.
"Right after I put this one in a cage." Seth respended, gently nudging the husky off of the table. She calmly trudged off, walking ever so gently on her casted legs. "See you tomorrow?" He asked his boss.
"Bright and early." Julia responded with a smile, grabbing her jacket and handbag before leaving.
XXX
"Are you a dog, or a fuckin' pig eh?" Seth asked Shadow the overweight Collie as she, somewhat literally, wolfed down the food he provided her. It took her less than 90 seconds to scarf down everything. "No wonder you can't outrun a damned baby dingo." He shook his head, sparing a glance at the mostly healed bite marks on her shaved legs.
After Shadow, he went over to a smaller cage where a black cat was resting soundly. This was Nova, a tabby who'd recently fallen pregnant, purely by accident, and the owners had a difficult time caring for her during the pregnancy. Thus, they decided to have her spayed earlier that day, once all the kittens had been given homes and Nova had recovered. The operation was small and simple, but it took place in late afternoon, just before the fox had been brought in by a distraught teen after hitting it during a driving lesson.
"Can we not kick up a fuss about this today, please?" Seth asked of Shaggy and Luna, the two small dogs, a Jack Russel and Boston Terrier respectively, who had been brought in as strays with no homes and incredibly sick a week prior. They'd been given antibiotic injections every night since admission, and both hated them. "Too much to hope for." Seth sighed as the Jack Russel growled at him, seeing the syringe in his hand.
XXX
"Jesus Christ…" Seth sighed as he dressed and covered a large scratch on his forearm from Shaggy. Dog's claws were not as sharp as a cat's, but it was still painful, though thankfully not very deep. "Stupid mutt." He scoffed. As much as he loved animals, working with them had a tendency to be rather annoying. "And, done." He said, putting a band-aid on the minor wound. "Just one more thing to do, and I can head home." He gave his muscles a stretch before grabbing his cane and getting up.
All the animals had been fed except for one, the husky that had been brought in earlier. Seth's heart melted just a little bit as he saw the dog's ears perk up. It was probably because of the smell of food, but Seth liked to think it was because of him as well. Maybe it was arrogance, but the way the dog's tail wagged as she stared at him through the cage's walls instead of the food was a heavy point in his favour.
"Guess we should come up with a name for you, huh?" He asked as he opened the cage, gave the large husky a quick pet behind the ears before placing the food in front of her, which consisted of some cooked, bland chicken, some rice, and some grated up carrot for extra nutrients. Canines were primarily carnivorous, but that was more behaviour and instinct than bodily function. They could digest a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains with no issue, and it should help with her recovery. "Wow, you must be hungry." Seth was amused at how eagerly she consumed the food in front of her. Not nearly as greedily as Shadow, but enough to see she'd been without food for a bit, as is common with stray animals.
As the husky ate, Seth started to brainstorm names for her. He considered snowy and icy names like Frost or Aurora, but decided against. They seemed a bit too basic for his taste. He would have gone for Ghost in a heartbeat if she were male and pure white, but alas, that was not an option. He considered Daenyrus, but it didn't quite suit her. Storm was also out. Then, as his phone bleeped the familiar sound of success from one of his favourite game franchises, it hit him.
"Zelda." He said, right as she finished her food. It was probably a coincidence, but it was still a little spooky the way the husky looked up at him right as he said the word. "Zelda, you like that?" he asked, scratching her between her ears again, getting a hefty tail wag in response. "Zelda it is." He smiled at the newly named Zelda. If the husky wasn't going to object, then he saw no reason to give the matter anymore thought.
"Well, I guess I should head home soon." He said, closing the cage and standing up. Grabbing his cane, he trod over to the light switch, grabbing his keys, phone, and wallet. On his phone, he saw the photo of himself and the husky that Julia had taken and sent to him, as he requested. "That should get me some Tinder matches, eh?" He asked the air, shaking his head as he pocketed the stuff. "Good night, Zelda." He said as he made to turn the lights off.
Right as he was about to flip the switch, a strange, nose-tickling scent caught his attention. It was a familiar scent, the same one he could smell whenever he turned his stove at home. "Gas?" He asked himself in a confused whisper. His eyes narrow, he looked around the room, wondering where such a scent might come from. As he really started focussing, he became aware of a slight hissing sound. In the corner of the room, he noticed a gas pipe. "Was that always there?" He asked himself, staring at the pipe.
He doesn't remember it being there before, but he hardly paid attention to every corner of every room in the building. Plus, the pipe was painted the same colour as the walls. Not to mention, everybody has those weird 'where did that come from?' moments when they see something they didn't notice before, even in their own homes. It certainly happened to him before. That, however, wasn't the most pressing issue. On the pipe, he could see a very distinct crack, where the hissing sound was most certainly coming from, and the scent of gas was definitely stronger there.
"Oh fuck…" Seth whispered, his eyes wide. As soon as the words left his mouth, the gas ignited. There was no way to really know how it happened. Perhaps one of his co-workers was still in the building and sneaking a cigarette, perhaps it happened inside the pipe, or maybe contact with the air could ignite the gas under the right circumstances. There was no way to know.
All Seth knew in his final moments was burning agony as he was hurled across the room, right into Zelda's cage.
…
…
…
Or so he thought.
XXX
The pain didn't last as long as he thought it would. It was terrible, absolutely agonising, for sure, but it was over so quickly, he honestly didn't find it so terrible in hindsight. Being burned alive was known to be the worst pain a human being could suffer, and he could see why, but with it only lasting a few seconds and then just vanishing, it was tolerable. He was probably lucky in that regard.
What confused him was what came after. He was never a religious person, an avid atheist at that, so he hadn't thought there would be anything after the pain stopped, though it was the last thing on his mind at the time. Instead, he found himself lying down on what he at least believed to be the ground, unable to move, barely able to see a thing.
Then, a light.
Ever so small, the light appeared in his field of vision, his eyes barely open. In a matter of seconds, the light grew in size until he could see nothing else, but a bright myriad of all the rainbow's colours. He wasn't sure how long he stared at the light with his unmoving eyes, but after a while, the light started to fade, and the wispy shape of something, a bird maybe, flying off could be seen with his inhibited vision. He could even hear the flapping of its wings, hard and strong, as if the bird was the size of a car, maybe bigger.
It wasn't long after that Seth lost consciousness again.
XXX
"Mmmmm…" Seth groaned unpleasantly as the sun blasted it's rays in his face. Having never been a morning person, it was not a pleasant experience for him. He tried to bring his blanket over his head, but quickly noticed he was lacking said blanket. As he blinked away the sleep from his eyes, he slowly became aware of the fact that he was not in his bed.
He was in a forest.
"What the fuck?" He asked, utterly baffled as he rubbed his eyes rather vigorously before looking around again. "Where in the hell am I?" He asked under his breath.
"Sol?" A deep voice sounded to his side, catching his attention.
He was not prepared for what he saw.
There was a dog of some kind, staring at him with a surprisingly emoted face, showing concern and slight confusion. It was large, probably coming up to his chest if he were to stand up straight, and he wasn't exactly short at 177cm. It's fur was pure white, and at the end of each of its feet were dark red claws. It's tail was strange, being vertically flat and triangular in shape. It had no snout, and a strangely flat face for a canine. Perhaps the strangest thing of all was the scythe-like blade sticking out of the side of it's head.
"Soool?" The creature drawled out carefully.
"Wah!" Seth yelped in fright as the creature got closer. Lost, alone, and a little afraid, he did the only thing his instincts would allow him to do: crawl back as best he can as a cripple. The creature was a little intrigued by his reaction, and a little startled, but didn't react violently at least. With a bit of distance between them, he got a good look at the creature.
It looked familiar.
As his fear calmed down, and he was finally able to process what was in front of him, he knew exactly where he'd seen this creature. His favorite anime from his childhood, not to mention the myriad of games he'd played on his Nintendo DS and a handful of other consoles. There was no doubt about it.
"An Absol?" He asked out loud, barely a whisper. And a shiny one at that!
"Aaabsol…" The apparent Pokémon let out lowly, dipping its head a little, though still looking at him with curious eyes, a sign of non-hostility possibly?
Swallowing his fear as it gently approached, Seth tried not to think about that giant scythe on the side of it's head, not to mention the incredibly sharp teeth he could see in it's slightly open mouth. Once it was within arm's reach, still showing no signs of hostility, only curiosity, Seth once swallowed his fear and reached out. The Pokémon didn't react as his hand slowly got closer to it's head. He let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding once he rested his hand on the creature's forehead. Biting the bullet, he gently started to scratch the Absol's forehead.
He jumped out of his skin when he heard an ever so soft rumbling sound coming from its throat, but calmed once he saw its tail wagging as well, if only gently.
Absol was happy. "I think…"
"Wah!" He yelped when it suddenly licked his face, leaving a trail of drool up his entire left cheek. "Well, you're friendlier than I would have imagined." he quipped with a shaky smile, still unnerved by the large creature.
"Sooool…" Absol rumbled in content as Seth continued his ministrations. He wasn't eager to stop, given that the Pokémon could quite easily eat him alive if it so chose.
He suppressed a shudder when the Disaster Pokémon gave him another, affectionate lick on his cheek, leaving another trail of slobber before it pulled back and sat in front of him, looking down at him with a stoic gaze as he sat up straight. Still thoroughly intimidated, though a little more at ease than before, Seth made eye contact with the creature.
"Wait a minute…" he whispered, truly looking into the creature's eyes for the first time. There was something uncannily familiar about those luminous blue eyes. They were bright, but dark at the same time, with an uncanny intelligence behind them that Seth had never seen in any animal before. "It couldn't be…" He breathed. "Zelda?" His voice breaking as the sound escaped him.
"Sol." He jumped when Absol 'spoke' again, nodding her head.
"Zelda, is that really you?" Seth's eyes were wider than dinner plates.
"Sol!" Absol nodded again, this time with a small smile on her face.
Utterly baffled, Seth tried to stand up, using a tree as an aid. Absol, seeing the young man struggle, immediately dipped her head as Seth almost fell, catching him. He used her neck as an aid to stand up straight(well, almost) as he looked at her.
"How can this be?" He whispered as the Disaster Pokémon looked at him with her curious blue eyes.
How in the hell does a perfectly normal stray husky turn into a massive anime canine almost twice it's size?! Seriously, this Absol was bigger than a great dane! Racking his brain, Seth tried to figure out what in the fuck was going on. After the explosion, one that should have killed him AND Zelda, but he'd get to that later, he found himself in the middle of a forest. Just in between the two, however, there was a brief state of semi-consciousness that he could barely remember. All he could recall was a strange warmth, and a whole lot of colour clouding his vision. Then, a strange flapping sound, like the wings of a hawk or eagle.
"Wait a minute…" Seth's eyes narrowed as he put the pieces together.
Warmth… Heat… Fire...
Colour… Light… Rainbow…
Flapping… Wings… Bird…
Holy fuck…
"Ho-oh…" Seth's eyes were wide as dinner plates once again as the thought struck him.
He had no proof, or any real reason to think this, for that matter, but it made perfect sense. He recalled the backstory of Raikou, Entei, and Suicune; three Pokémon who died in a large fire, and were reincarnated into their current forms by Ho-oh, who was saddened by their death. He gave them all new life in the forms of completely new Pokémon. Could it have been Ho-oh that did this to Zelda? Could it have also healed him from the explosion.
"Could've healed my spine too…" Seth wryly thought to himself as he shook his head clear of his thoughts. "We need to get a bearing of where we are before we decide what to do next." He decided to focus on the current situation itself, rather than how it came to be. "I hope you don't mind helping me walk." He said wryly to Zelda, who let out a soft rumble and a nod.
Carefully, Zelda strode in the random direction Seth chose, the young man awkwardly waddling alongside her, his right arm over her neck, supporting his attempt to walk.
XXX
"Well, this just got a little more interesting…" Seth whispered to himself as he looked up at the bird in one of the trees.
Admittedly, the thought had occurred to him, but he wasn't about to make any assumptions. Then, he and Zelda came across a large, grey bird preening itself in a tree with its small, black beak. It was much larger than the magpies and parrots he usually saw outside. From its feet to its head, it was about as tall as a cockatoo, including the tail, but much… rounder. It was a light grey, with darker grey wings, and it's belly was a pale white, the colour creating a heart shape. It's feet were small and pink, and it had light orange eyes.
A Pidove.
Up to that point, Seth wasn't sure if he was on Earth with a creature that shouldn't exist as his companion, or if he was in a completely new world that he shouldn't exist in. The points just ruled in favour of the latter. He wasn't sure what he would do if that was the case.
"No need to disturb it." Seth said an anxious sigh, massaging his temple with his free hand, the other still using the Absol as support. "Let's just keep going. I have an idea of where we are now, so we'll find the nearest human settlement and decide what to do then." He told her.
"Sol." Zelda nodded in agreement.