Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 7 - Not Quite Dead

"You're... you're Mew." He pointed an accusatory claw toward the pink god. "Mew!"

"Yep!"

"And—and you're... you're talking to me. You know my name."

"Uh-huh!"

Owen's throat sealed itself. He swallowed, but it didn't help. It was like his face was stuffed with Oran Berries. "You... y-you... you, you... you..."

"Aww, you're shy! I like the shy types." She gave Owen a little wink.

Owen knew that if he wasn't in this strange place, he would've passed out by now. Instead, he stared in shock. The lush forest leaves swayed with the wind. The canopy's rustling leaves created beautiful patterns of light on the ground. He worried that even an improper sneeze would set it all alight, along with all the Pokémon still watching from just outside the clearing.

Mew wasn't real. And yet there she was. Somehow.

"Mew! Why are you looking at—at me? No, wait, I mean—talking to me? I'm—Did you want to see Rhys, instead? He's way more important!"

The Mew giggled. "Oh, call me Star. My name's Mew Star."

"S-S-Star? Y-you—! But you're important! A-aren't you supposed to not have a name aside from your species? Or... I didn't even think you were real, but..."

That thought settled in. Mew was real. Did that mean... other things about the Legendary Pokémon and all their myths were also real?

"What, just because I'm Mew means I can't have a name to go along with it? C'mon, that's no fun." Star puffed her cheeks. "What happens if I run into a lesser Mew? Then we'll be all kinds of confused! My name is Star, got it? Besides, it'd be confusing if I did this, right?"

She had said so much there that Owen had no chance to reply to any of it. Lesser Mew? There wasn't even a single Mew until a few seconds ago!

Suddenly, Star's body shifted and twisted, starting from a mesh of pink into orange, and she fell to the ground on her feet—a Charmander.

She gave a little bow. "Eh? Eh?" She followed up with a little spin, wagging her tail to loosen a few embers.

"Wh—uh—that—" Owen gulped. "D-don't do that."

"Don't do what?" Star asked, flicking her tail again.

"That."

Star eyed Owen, as if getting a read for him, but then shrugged. "Fine," she relented, and she melted back to her floating, Mew self. She created a purple bubble and rested her elbows against it, her tail curling above her.

Owen felt the heat slowly leave his face. "Okay. Okay, that's better. It's n-nice to meet you, um, Star. I'm—I'm Charmander Owen! And—"

"Oh, please, I already know all about you." She waved a paw dismissively in the air. "I'm pretty high up in the pantheon or whatever."

"O-oh, so, you're—"

"Creator of common life, yes," Star said, nodding. "Pretty nifty, huh? I have a few perks, too. Reading minds, shape-shifting, you know."

"That's..."

"So! I hate to be the one to tell you this"—She clapped her paws together—"but by touching that orb in Rhys' room, you kinda more or less closed off your fate to three options. Okay? Mind if I tell you those?"

"Wait—the Orb? The Orb? Do I capitalize that? Was I supposed to—I mean, was I really not supposed to touch it?"

"No way, definitely not." Star shook her head, though she didn't hide her playful smile. "I mean, you're fine, probably, but you probably also shouldn't have gone against what the old Lucario told you. But hey, that's karma, right?"