Trevor awoke to the smell of smoke, the scent jolting him upright with a startled, high-pitched squeak. Though his vision was foggy from just having woken up from a deep sleep, he was able to recognize a set of wooden walls which signified that he was back indoors. Releasing a sigh of relief, Trevor allowed his breathing to steady as he slowly reclined onto what he assumed was his cozy bed. "It was all a dream after all," Trevor thought to himself with a satisfied face while rubbing his tired eyes. "I'm not a Meowth. I was never in some strange golden forest. and there are no giant Pokémon trying to kill me. I'm... safe."
Trevor was barely allowed to think these thoughts before a wide-eyed Scorbunny suddenly appeared in front of him, her bright, yellow eyes flashing with excitement. "Finally, you're awake!" she exclaimed in a scratchy, energetic voice, "It's been a whole day, you know. You sure love to sleep, huh?"
Trevor let out another terror-filled scream before erupting into a violent coughing fit, clutching his chest as he recoiled in pain.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down! It's alright, okay?! I'm not gonna hurt you." The concerned Scorbunny took a step backwards, awkwardly holding her palms out. "You're safe now. You're in my home. I mean, it's not much, but you'll definitely be safe here."
"You... you can talk?!" Trevor managed to rasp, staring at the Scorbunny with wide, hysterical eyes.
"Uh... 'course I can talk."
Trevor continued to sit silently, looking towards the Scorbunny with a wild look of disbelief as his mind raced to find some kind of explanation for how a Pokémon could possibly be talking to him. The Scorbunny, on the other hand, began to fidget uncomfortably while staring at her new visitor with an expression of utter bewilderment.
After what seemed like hours of silence between the pair, the Scorbunny decided that she could take the awkwardness of the situation no longer. "I'm Aiden!" she hastily blurted out in the most reassuring voice she could muster. "...What's yours?"
Trevor didn't answer. Instead, he looked down and saw a mass of sand-colored fur covered in bandages. He shakily raised his hands up to his widening eyes and found a familiar set of beige-colored paws staring him back. It hurt to move; even the process of sitting up caused him to wince slightly. Vivid memories of the hostile Riolu from the day before shot themselves directly into his mind.
"So that Riolu, or... whatever that was... wasn't just a dream." he defeatedly inflected, the surreal reality of the situation finally beginning to sink in.
Trevor's large, black pupils darted frantically as he made an effort to analyze his surroundings. He was in a hut of some kind - small, wooden, and round in shape. Various necessities were scattered across the floor: a cozy-looking straw nest, a massive tree stump used as a makeshift table, even a little metal stove with a lidded pot on top. Trevor himself was laying on a foot-wide log covered in straw which assembled to create a creative, if not slightly uncomfortable sofa. Slumped on the right side of the curved walls was a battered punching bag, ash-black and covered in footprints. While the house was far from tidy and unlike anything Trevor had ever seen, he couldn't deny that there was something about the messy interior that felt distinctly homely.
His attention drifted towards the walls, which were adorned with posters depicting Pokémon in heroic poses and scenarios. One illustration which stood out to Trevor showed a heroic looking Lucario posing confidently atop the peak of a snowy mountain. His long, white robe flowed impressively behind him as the Pokémon looked forwards with a stoic expression. Under the engrossing scene was tagline which read, "YOU TOO CAN BECOME A LEGEND! BECOME AN EXPLORER TODAY!"
"Hellooooo?" The Scorbunny waved a paw in front of Trevor's eyes, abruptly pulling him from his inner thoughts. "You still there? What's your name?"
"Trephor. No, Trevor!" he corrected swiftly. "Sorry."
YOU ARE READING
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rising Spirits
Abenteuer"All things... must eventually come to pass..." Trevor, a timid human turned Meowth, has been thrust into an unfamiliar world of talking Pokémon who view his kind as inexplicably tied to the looming, unseen threat which threatens their world. With n...
