Dead, But Still Kicking

“GAH!”

        I woke up in shock and stared at the nothingness of the wall in front of me, panting and huffing heavily due to the mixture of emotions that was messing me up. My head began beating hard and I couldn’t help but let out a loud groan. God dammit, I hate it when that happens.

        I tried to calm myself down with a deep breath. In a cliched fashion, I kept telling myself that it was all just a bad dream, even though I knew better. Ever since I came here I’ve had the same nightmare, that is in reality nothing but a memory, over and over again, haunting me forever. As surprising as it may sound, I actually did die that night in Castelia, that shot ended me according to what my friends told me. Yet here I am, panting on my bed, trying to fully come back to reality. Thankfully, my worries immediately fled away when I heard small whimpers coming from the side of my bed.. I turned to see Cat’s face full of worry, the same face she had whenever I woke up from my nightmares. I grabbed her and smiled, snuggling her as she kept on whimpering..

        “Did you have bad dreams again?” She asked with that squeaky voice of hers, “I knew I should have slept at your side! That way I could hug you while you’re dreaming and all the bad dreams go away!”

        The sheer cuteness of Cat’s worry made me chuckle, shaking my head, “Last time we did that, I almost suffocated you. So yeah, thanks but no thanks, it’s better if you sleep in your own bed.”

        “Alright…” She sighed, before licking my face, “In any case, good morning Thomas!”

        “Good morning Cat. And thanks for cheering me up.” I replied with a grin that brightened up her face. Even if she was a troublemaker, I still loved her with all my heart, she was like my own daughter, and according to her, I was the best ‘worst parental figure’ she could ever ask for.

        “Now let’s go eat breakfast!” She bounced happily with the widest, most excited grin.

        I chortled as I made my way out of the bed, keeping little Cat on my hands and taking a good look at my room to make sure I was in my own apartment and not at someone else's place, I had plenty of places to stay at after all. Yup, the same old, badly-painted walls, same old posters I placed there just for the sake of covering the holes on the wall, same old spiderwebs I never bothered to get rid of, home sweet home.

        I opened the door and narrowed my eye as the blinding sunlight that came from the window almost burned it. I would never get used to how freaking strong the sun was here.

        That day was kind of special. It was the second ‘monthiversary’, as Cat called them, of the day when we first got here. “Can’t believe it’s been two months already, time sure does fly.”

        “Yay! Monthiversary!” Cat replied happily. We finally reached the kitchen, and the clock on the wall told us that we had plenty of time until the rest of the gang woke up.

        I grinned. This was my favorite part of the day. “Ready?” I asked little Cat.

        “Weady!” She said with a spoon in her jaw.

        I suck at many things, being a criminal, being a spy, being a functional member of society, being a trainer, being a lover, being a worker… yeah you get the idea. But if there’s one thing I’ve always been good at, that’s making…

        “Bacon pancakes, makin bacon pancakes!” She began singing with a happy swing of her hips as I battered the hell out of that mix.

        “Bring down the cinnamon!” I ordered. And with a clumsy army salute, Cat threw the cinnamon into the mix with a battlecry.

        “More water!” I ordered.

        “More water!” Cat repeated after me, pouring the glass of water like a champ into the mass.

        “Lieutenant Cat, is the tango hot?” I asked as I imitated one of those military guys.

        “Aye Captain! The bacon is ready!” She replied with a similar tone.

Yes, we’re immature as heck, and to be honest, we don’t care. With expert precision, I poured the mix into the pan, and we both sighed as the sweet sound of everything mixing together and heating up to maximum frying capacity filled us with joy.

        “Do you think pancakes have a soul?” Cat randomly asked as we waited for the pancakes to be ready.

        “What do you mean?”

        Cat shrugged, “Well, some demons think that everything has a soul. From trees to gods, I saw this one guy with a funny hat stopping a pegasus from stepping on an ant because he said the ant’s soul would be lost.”

        Dammit Tophat, you and your crazy shenanigans.

“Well…” I began thinking on what to say, and truth be told I had no idea. “Uhm… well. In a way they do have a soul.”

“Wait… really?” Cat tilted her head.

“Yeah, because there is no way we could make such awesome pancakes without pouring a bit of our souls into it, don’t you think?” I winked at her.

        Her eyes widened up, and they let out this wonderful spark filled with wonder. I loved when she did that. “Does that mean that if I eat a bunch of pancakes, I’ll become immortal?” She asked with the widest of smiles.

        I shook my head and held in the laughter, “That’s not how it works, Cat. You sacrifice a bit of your own soul to later eat it again. Except that you’re also eating part of my soul, and I’m eating part of yours. So in the end, you have a bit of me inside you and likewise, I have a bit of you inside me.”

        “Woah!” Cat exclaimed. She was about to ask something else, yet she stopped when her nose detected something that caused a grin to form in her face.

        I knew exactly what that face meant. I turned off the heat and saw with a grin how the little sparks of boiling oil died down. They were ready. We took all the pancakes and placed them on four different dishes, bathing them in syrup as the smell of the meaty goodness filled the floor.

        And then, the sound of an opening door, as both Bisharp and Sevastian walked out of their shared room, most definitely lured out by the smell of breakfast.

“Oh the glorious smell of breakfast!” Sevastian vigorously claimed, “Thomas, mi amigo! I can already tell you outdid yourself today!”

“That’s literally what you always say whenever I prepare our special breakfast.” I chuckled.

“I must say that it does smell magnificent, master Thomas.” Bisharp pointed out. It gave me a proud smile, making them happy was my job as a trainer after all. But then I noticed that something… or rather someone was missing.

“Where’s Sol?”

“I am afraid Sol had to leave home earlier than usual,” Bisharp sighed.

“She said that there are some imps causing trouble in the east part of town.” Sevastian added as he made his way towards the table, “Malditos diablos always doing stuff like that, you know what they say, there’s always something to blast away.”

“Who would ever say such a thing?” Bisharp quirked an eyebrow.

“Well why demolition crews of course!” Sevastian rolled his eyes, before slithering towards the table with a slightly malicious giggle, “It is feeding time, carajo!”

I chuckled as I sent their dishes sliding to their respective place. “Suit yourselves.”

Sevastian prepared to lunge and devour the pancakes in front of him, his fangs inches away from the syrup covered goodness.

 He was then smote to crisps by a Shock Wave, an angry Cat with sparks on her eyes and a malicious, frightening grin, standing in front of him and placing her paw on the pancakes..

“We don’t eat, until everyone’s ready to eat.” She said both calmly, and threateningly at the same time.

Sevastian gulped and slowly backed up, his eyes wide open as he stared at the little Shinx in shock.

Cat simply giggled and went back to her seat, sitting down with a small thump as she gave me a grin.

She was horrifyingly cute.

I sat down, and she nodded. “Well, hope you guys enjoy this. I made it to kind of celebrate our two months here and what not.”

And with that everyone dug in, feasting on the pancakes without sharing a word, their mouths full of the fried goodness. Cat was the first one to finish her portion, devouring her pancakes in simply two bites, burping, and looking at me with a begging puppy face; I chuckled and gave her my own pancakes, not like I needed to eat anymore.

Two months… two months since we were all taken to this planet by the Pokemon god himself, Arceus. Two months living in this nice hell called Boot Port, the city that connects the land of Penumbra with Equestria and the rest of Equus itself.

        Gulping his first pancake, Bisharp quirked an eyebrow as he cleaned his mouth with a handkerchief, “Master Thomas, forgive me for interrupting your day-dreaming, but isn’t it time for you to be working? And with that, I mean that you should be working right now.” I blinked as I came back to reality, giving the clock a look and realizing…

        “I’m late, aren’t I?” I deadpanned.

        A collective “Yup”,  and a sigh from my part, “Remember to clean up your dishes. And if you two go out to train or something, please, for Arceus' sake take Cat with you, and a couple of snacks, she gets hungry after a while and if you leave her here alone she'll go out and get lost again.”

        “That only happened once! Or… twice! Well… that only happened three times! Won't happen again!” She gave me a cute harrumph followed by an angry yet still cute pout.

        “See ya guys for lunch.” And with that, I turned around and made my way towards the exit door, before stopping and letting out one hell of a confident smirk. I knew I could do it, I knew I could phase through that door, the gang looked at me expectantly, Sevastian already betting two tamas (the local currency) that I wouldn't make it, and Bisharp saying it was of bad taste to bet against one's ally… and that he also didn't want to lose money. Thanks guys.

        But I would prove them wrong! Taking a deep breath and closing my eye, I walked forwards… I could feel it, I could feel my body becoming lighter, I could feel myself leaving the material plane and going to where no man has probably, most likely, ever gone, I could feel my body take an excruciating pain as it crashed into the closed wooden door.

        I’m not that good in phasing through stuff. Seriously, what fun is there in being a ghost if you can’t phase through stuff?

        With the laughs behind me making it obvious the gang was enjoying this way more than they should, I turned the knob, except my hand phased right through it, and I was suddenly stuck with my hand stuck on the other side of the door.

        The laughs intensified.

        God dammit Arceus, why did you have to make me a Dusclops? Couldn’t I be a more badass Pokémon like a Gengar or an Aegislash? Or you know, something that is far more solid than a bunch of gas kept in place by bandages.

        I pulled and pulled, yet to no avail.

        “Master Thomas, I think I should remind you that as a Dusclops, you can use Psychic to open the door with your mind.” Bisharp said between soft chuckles.

        I would have facepalmed, yet my right hand was stuck behind the door. Closing my eye, I focused on the knob and with utmost care, it began turning, opening the lock while for some reason, my hand also began phasing through the door once again, returning to me like if nothing had happened.

        “One day, you guys just wait! One day I’ll be able to be a cool ghost that can go through walls and stuff!” I exclaimed with all the determination to do so.

        “Master Thomas, your work?” Bisharp reminded me, breaking my determination as I was returned to the harsh reality. Why couldn’t I be a famous hero? Why couldn’t I just sit down and enjoy myself? Or go on epic adventures and save the day and only worry about getting praised and getting like the city keys or something?

        Nope, I was just a normal ghost living a normal life in a fucked up place. Hard to believe that this was our lives now. As I made my way to work I couldn’t help but think back on that darn first day when we all got here.

        So imagine waking up in the middle of nowhere, head foggy and a full-body pain that would make an old man proud. Imagine waking up with images of you getting shot flashing on your mind, trying to stand up and feeling as weightless as a skinny midget, attempt to walk around yet almost-falling every time you take a step, and actually falling every time you manage to take two steps. Imagine looking up to see the mother of all suns shining with all its burning glory and blinding you for like a minute or two, as you scream in pain because fuck that hurts.

        Walking aimlessly, feeling your world spin around as you’ve never been more confused, remembering the small fact that you just got shot, that suddenly you woke up feeling all weird in a weird place that feels like hell itself, imagine that, that’s what I was feeling.

        Around me were a ton of different Pokemon looking as freaked out as I was, some of which I have never, ever seen before. I mean, I’m no expert in Pokemon and I don’t really care about knowing each and every kind of ‘mon out there, so how would have I known those weren’t actually Pokemon?

        With constant groans, mostly because of how excruciatingly painful my head felt, I waddled around, crashing into trees, wondering how the fuck I ended up in a forest. The idea that it had all been a bad dream and that I just had drunk too much last night came to me, that would explain why I felt like if a Snorlax had sit on me, and based on past experiences, why I had woken up in a place that was most definitely not Castelia.

        Yet just as I aimlessly made my way towards nowhere, the atmosphere became grim.  That's when I met her, the most annoyingly terrifying creature I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. And it all started with that mother freaking ghostly giggle.

        “Well, well, well… what do we have here?” Came that grating, husky voice.

        A more courageous person would look around and be all: “Show yourself!”

        But I was no knight, I was a complete chicken. The only thing I was able to do was shiver and whimper as my body was too shocked to even move.

        “Well it looks like someone just saw a ghost.” The voice said with a giggle, and in the blink of an eye, its origin changed directions, “Let me guess, you are confused and scared, are you not?”

        My body decided to answer with a nod, even if my brain told me not to.

        “Relax, dear.” A strange feeling overtook my shoulders, as if someone was… massaging them? “I have never seen such a scaredy Dusclops.”

        A what now? Was… she talking to me?

        Finally, my body decided to obey me. Turning my head slowly, my eyes widened up to the side of platters when I saw who was responsible for all of this.

        Her face was colored gray, looking at me with those cold, terrifying purplish pink cat-like eyes and those slit pupils. Below them, a creepy smile formed by zipper-lips. Yup, zipper-lips. For those of you who don’t know much about Pokemon like me, the creature who was massaging my shoulder was the incarnation of revenge, a Ghost type so freaky that even the most buffy and valiant of men would feel shivers running down their spines, a creature so dangerous that kings would kneel before them in fear, a creature so horrible that no one ever wants to take selfies with it. Am I exaggerating? Probably, yet that’s what I was feeling with this creature touching me like if we were some sort of lovers. Fucking Banettes freak me out.

        And then it hit me. That Banette, a Pokémon, she… was talking to me and for some reason not only could I understand her, but she freaking called me a Dusclops. I panicked, shivering, no, trembling like an Earthquake as memories of the night when I was shot came back to me.

        “You are one odd Ghost type... Let me guess, you are a trained one, are you not?” A trained one? My mind went wild in panic and confusion as I tried to make sense of things, yet at the same time, it was too obvious what had happened, “Poor, poor thing. I don’t know if you’ve realized yet, but I checked around and let me be the first one to give you the good news, there are no humans here. ”WHAT!? How could that even be possible? “You are free, dear. You should be happy, far happier now that there are no filthy humans around.”

        I didn’t want to, but I needed to. I needed to know. I took a good look at myself, and my world was shattered.

        Round gray chubby body, check. Bandage pattern with a few loose bandages here and there, check. Three weird-ass projections that looked like a beard or something, check. Wispy light gray growths coming out from my shoulders, check. And of course, over-sized white hands that look like if they were directly attached to my body, yet at the same time feel so loosely connected… check.

        No way around it. She was right, it horrified me but she was right. I had suddenly become a Dusclops, and there was only one logical explanation for this. I was dead. I had actually been shot and now I was a ghost. Fuck my life.

        “N-no…” I stuttered as I once again began trembling, “No way! No, this is, this, this is not happening! Nononono I am not dead. No.” I began lying to myself, because that always helps.

        The Banette looked at me with a quirked eyebrow, “Are you alright dear? You look a little… gray” She cackled as she levitated around me. “Now I think there is a story there, mind telling?”

        “I.. I’m not… I…” Brain.exe had stopped working. I just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I had actually died, and that I was now a freaking Ghost type Pokemon in the middle of who knew where, probably hell itself or something! “No…” I smacked myself, or tried, my hands wouldn’t reach my cheeks. “Thomas McKenzie get your shit together. You are an adult for crying out loud, act like one.”

        “Wait a minute…” Banette’s tone suddenly became dark, as she narrowed her eyes and began hissing. Well fuck, what did I do now? “Thomas… McKenzie? As in, the dumb kid from Castelia?”

        Somehow, she had become even more freaky, “Y-you know… you know who I am?”

        “Oh boy do I?” She began giggling maliciously, her eyes glowing with a strange purple flame, “I’ve been looking for you for far too long. Finally, I will get my revenge.” I stepped back in fear, my brain shouting at me to get the fuck out, while my body was too frightened to listen to it. Not like it mattered in the end.

        She cackled as she dashed towards me, a Shadow Claw attack on her hands and a bloodthirsty look in her eyes. Fucking hell I don’t even have blood!

        I whimpered as I saw death once again try to claim my name, crossing my arms in front of me in hopes that maybe that would do something? I mean, the people in the movies do that sort of thing and it always kind of works. Well boy let me tell ya, I have never been so grateful that I used to spend most of my free time slacking in the sofa watching movies, because just as her attack was about to hit, a gray semi-transparent shield-orb-thing surrounded me, Protecting me from the vicious attack.

        Banette giggled as she repeatedly struck the shield, “Protect doesn't last forever, little McKenzie. Just surrender and let me KILL YOU!” She said with an incredibly unsettling demonic voice in the end. With a dual slash and a backflip, she broke my shield, and I began panicking, real hard. “End of the line, McKenzie!” She cackled as a large purple orb formed on her right hand, Shadow Ball, just… great. “Time to die again~”

        That was the end of me. Woke up as a Dusclops after being shot, on a strange land who knows where, and now I'd die at the hands of a psychopath Banette who apparently has some heavy beef with me. Yup, that's how I was gonna go, I was going to die as I lived,having no idea of what the fuck was happening. My death was imminent, so I simply closed my eye and shook in fear, waiting for the blow that would probably knock me unconscious, who knew what else that devilish bastard would do to me once I blacked out.

        Little did I know that destiny had better plans for me, as just before the sphere hit me, an arrow came from the woods and intercepted the Shadow Ball, making it blow up just before it hit me, the resulting small explosion barely reaching my face.

        “Don’t think so, mate, there ain’t gonna be any cold murdering on my watch”

Slowly I opened my eye, which fully widened up as I got a good look at my saviour. Bigger than the Banette yet way smaller than me, a four legged creature who could only be compared to a Ponyta, yet without the burning head or the pure white coloring. Its coat and mane were colored different shades of brown, with a bit of grayish red details on the mane that hid a strange glowing horn, a defiant look on those brownish red eyes, and the flickering long Pyroar-like tail. Yet what struck me the most wasn’t the fact that such a Pokemon, or whatever it was, existed and was in front of me, but the levitating bow and the light brown neon arrow that was seemingly made of pure energy.

“Going to tell you once, get outta here or I’ll shoot your brains out.” She warned, raising her charged bow and aiming at the Banette. Her voice was dry, a bit raspy

But the Banette simply giggled, “Well, well, well. I haven’t seen anything like you before. You must be one of those strange Pokémon roaming around. Not like it matters, if you’re going to get in the way, I might as well take you down too!”

“You do realize that I don’t understand nothing ya bloody say, right?.” The stranger quirked her eyebrow, “So if you could stop sayin’ that, that’d be handy.”

Needless to say, this really pissed the Banette off, even if she tried not to show it, “Deary, stop playing fool or believe me, I’ll start considering the option of killing you as we-”

The strange creature rolled her eyes, “You new daemons sure you are alright in the head? ‘Cus it sure seems like you have some sorta impediment or something, repeating the same thing over and over again. It’s getting annoyin’.”

The Banette narrowed her eyes, and her grin turned grim, this was definitely not amusing her. With a malicious cackle she charged up another Shadow Ball. Yet the sphere immediately blew up right in the Ghost type’s face as the arrow shot right through it, even managing to pierce the Banette’s chest, pinning her to a nearby tree.

The ghost let out an unholy shriek that struck both  my savior’s ears and my own, causing both of us to be knocked prone as the marksman (or rather, maksmare) let out a pained groan. “That… is somehow even more bloody annoying!” She huffed, trying her best to ignore the pain as she shakingly aimed the bow, before firing.another arrow.

And so, the Ghost type was silenced. Her Screech attack had come to an end as the arrow seemingly hit her in the freaking mouth. Slowly, both of us regained our composure and managed to stare at the tree where she had been pinned down to, seeing the lifeless expression on the Banette, grinning at me with those cold eyes and that eternal grin.

The thought crossed my mind, could you really kill a Ghost type? Was the Banette really dead after just two shots?

        And that’s when the universe decided to slap me in the face and laugh at me. The Banette disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving nothing but dust as I heard an extremely unsettling laugh in my head. And then, pain. Horrified, I looked at my stomach, three ethereal, long pointy fingers had pierced my body.

        “Foolish Thomas, do you really think it’ll be that-urk!.”

        Another arrow silenced the little gray bastard who had stabbed me in the back, literally, with a Shadow Claw to be precise. I would have seen what happened next, yet my head began spinning and my eyes started getting foggy as I felt extremely tired. Next thing I knew, I was lying unconscious on the ground, not before letting out one final call for help.

        “Sol….”

        “So, what you sayin’ is that you’re not from ‘round here, ‘rite?”

        “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

        Pain, that’s the only word I could have used at that moment to describe my situation.

        “I came from a forest so this place is like home to me!”

        Make that pain and confusion. Those three voices…. two of them seemed oddly familiar, specially the second one… but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

        “Well, I guess that makes sense. There was a huge explosion that shook the town. Went out to find out what had happened. Suddenly, the forest was filled with ya weird creatures roamin’ around confused and whatnot.”

        “An explosion? Last thing I remember was being in a city fighting off a Salamence, then… in the end I simply fell asleep and woke up in the middle of that forest.”

        “I was picking up berries! But then I also fell asleep against my will, I wasn’t even tired!””

        “The bloody heck is a Salamence?”

        Wait… Salamence, in a city? My brain began putting two plus two together, but I was never good with basic math, and in the state I was, a simple two plus two became a complex quantum physics equation for me. I tried to snap back into reality, my body twitching slightly as I tried to get it to do something.

        “It’s… another Pokemon. I still can’t believe you don’t even know what a Pokemon is.”

“We’re everywhere!”

        “Well I ain’t able to believe you don’t know what a daemon is either.”

        Demon? Who were these voices? And what were they even talking about, how can you not know what a Pokemon is? Finally, I managed to let out a loud groan, calling everyone’s attention. Opening my eye, I was finally able to see who was talking, and boy did it only make things far weirder than what they already were.

        Sol, the creature that saved me, and for some reason a Mr. Mime, were simply staring at me.

        “Uh…. what?” I managed to say.

        “Arvo, mate,” The creature grinned, tilting her slouch hat, “Glad to see ya up and healthy.”

        I blinked, “What… happened?”

        “You fainted. That Banette critted you with a Shadow Claw, don’t be so surprised, any Ghost type as weak as you would have fallen unconscious. Be thankful that I was around to save your ass.” Sol explained coldly. Thanks for calling me weak, Sol, real nice.

        “Wow… well, thanks I guess?”

        She shrugged, “No biggie. Besides, Mixer here was the one that did most of the work, you should be thanking her.”

        The creature, who I assumed was Mixer, chuckled, “Nah, that creature was being ah pain in the arse, Darn daemons goin off like a frog in a sock.You really rocked it back there, luv. Have ya considered working as deputy?”

        “Ehm…” Sol chuckled, “No thanks. I’ve gotten enough action with the police already.”

        “Tell me about it.” I groaned, “Damn cops sure screwed us over, huh Sol?”

        She looked at me in shock, eyes wide open, blinking several times, “Excuse me?”

        “You know, the whole problem with Mister P.” I said with a quirked eyebrow, not knowing why she was acting that way.

        She stared at me confused, shocked, astonished, before tackling me and pinning me on the ground, fire emanating from her wings as she growled, “WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING DUSCLOPS?”

        “Oh come on! I just cleaned the carpet!” Mixer complained from behind her.

        I on the other hand, couldn’t help but gulp, “Uhm… Sol, you’re scaring me.”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!?” She screeched, the heat around us intensifying.

I then realized it. Of course she wouldn’t recognize me right away, I was a freaking Dusclops now. “S-sol, this may be hard to believe but… it’s me, Thomas.”

She stared at me, not amused at all. The heat intensified even more as she looked at me with a deathstare, “Do NOT play with me Dusclops! I can easily knock you out again and leave you out there in the forest!”

There was only one way to solve this. I took a deep breath, and gave her my best honest-face, ”Mister P. gave you to me six years ago as a reward for getting rid of an agent that was after him. You were taken away from your family against your will and sold to him in the black market. We live together with Cat, Bisharp and Sevastian. You love mint flavored ice cream, you idolize Alder’s Volcarona, and you’re into fem-”

“That’s-! That’s… enough.” Sol said, her eyes wide open as she kept on staring at me, at least her wings stopped burning, that’s a good sign right? “I… can’t believe it. I’ve heard stories of humans turning into Pokemon, of humans turning into Ghost types after they... well.” Her words were cut short, and for the first time ever I saw something that should not be possible, there were tears falling from her eyes, vanishing into steam as they reached her fiery cheeks, shame in her voice. Immediately afterwards, she tackled me into a hug, crying silently on my shoulder, “I… I’m so sorry! I should have been faster, I should have payed more attention!”

I closed my eyes as I finally came to terms with what most likely happened, “Sol, after… well, after I got shot, what happened?” I just needed to be sure.

Sol remained silent for a few minutes, before taking a deep breath, “When… I heard the shot, and I saw P. shoot you I- I tried to go after you, but Menace wouldn’t let me. When the reinforcements came and arrested P. I went to check on you but… according to Marcus you were already…” Her words got stuck in her throat as she kept on crying, closing her eyes to try and take away the horrifying memory.

I on the other hand, still couldn’t believe it. I had died, yet… for some reason I had been turned into a Pokemon. I wanted to panic, to scream, to cry… but with Sol in such vulnerable position, I just couldn’t.

“Sol…” I sighed. I wanted to hug her, to extend my arms and surround her in them. But I couldn’t. My hands were attached to my body, I could barely move them… or so I thought. Frustrated with my new body, I failed to realize that my hands began floating in the air, detached from my chest and just floating as if they were connected by nothing but an invisible string. It was as if they had read my mind, as they floated over to Sol’s back, and pressed her closer to me, keeping us both in a warm embrace.

She seemed to be slowly calming down thanks to my hug, thing that was also calming me down. I needed to put this topic away for now, I’d find more about my… death later.

“So, where exactly are we?” I said in an attempt to change the topic.

        Mixer looked at me for a little while, before shaking her head, “Pardon, got… a bit… anyways. Well, as I told your  friends here, you all are in the land of Penumbra.”

        “Penumbra? Never heard of that region.” I blinked in surprise.

        “Oh that is because it is not a region!” The Mr. Mime shook his head.

        I stared at him, creeped out by his face, the fact that he was here, the fact that he was looking at me, and the fact that he just looked so calm it was terrifying,  “Who are you again?”

        The Psychic type just waved at me, “No one important. They picked me up on the way, and I helped them translate! Whatever I hear you two say, my brain tells to the nice pony lady by using my Psychic powers!”

        “He’s been rather handy, helped me out with some of them other creatures runnin’ around. “ Mixer chuckled.

        “And to answer your doubts. It seems like we’ve been sent to an entirely different planet altogether!” He grinned as if it was the most natural thing ever.

        “Wat.”

        “Yes! It all fits. New lands, these creatures, the ‘Demons’, they have never heard of an Earth or a Pokemon, and likewise, we have never heard of this world which they call Equus, or Penumbra this country, or Equestria, or Griffinheim, or Zebrica, or the Dragon Lands, or the Crystal Empire or the-”

        “What our cobber here is tryin’ to say is,” Mixer interrupted him, thank Arceus she did that, “Is that you ain’t from ‘round here, mate. That huge explosion that I saw before seems to have somethin’ to do with that. Geez, demons from another planet, and I thought Tophat was crazy when he said he had seen them UFOs.”

        “Oh well, we are not demons first of all, we’re ‘Pokemon’, I believe that calling us Demons might get a bit offensive, I’m pretty sure we’re an entirely different species. And secondly… I doubt those UFOs were from our planet.” Mr. Mime corrected.

        Mixer simply glared at him with a deadpan expression, “I’ll call you whatever the heck I wanna call you.”

        “That means…” Sol said softly, trying her best to regain her usual firm composure, “That our friends are out there, probably looking for us… or rather me.”

        “Sol, drop it.” I told her, annoyed yet at the same time saddened by the fact that she was still thinking about it. Of course, she said nothing in response, not even looking at me. I sighed, and nodded, “But you’re right. We need to look for them, Bisharp and Sevastian can probably survive on their own, Cat’s the one I’m worried about.”

        Mixer let out a groan as she stretched her back, cracking her neck and ending it all with a shake of her body, “Well then, let’s get goin’. If someone out there needs help, I can’t just stay here and do nothin’. Oh right, I didn’t really introduce myself to you, did I? Call me Mixer, part pony, part demon, and sheriff of this town.”

        “Town? I thought we were in a forest.” I asked in confusion, remembering seeing nothing but trees.

        Mixer chuckled as she walked backwards towards the door, before bucking it open, signaling me to take a look outside.

I hesitantly walked towards the open door and as soon as I saw the outside, and my jaw was dropped open. There was a town out there alright, and it looked like an odd combination between those pirate towns and those old-west towns I’ve seen in the movies. Modest, half-timbered houses, some of them tumble-down due to age and probably not having long until falling down, all of them of different sizes and colors, slightly mossy and dusty, and with rickety wooden boardwalks on the front with extended roofs to cover them of the sun. And most definitely the most eye-catching feature of the town, were its inhabitants. Strange creatures of all types and sizes, wearing all kinds of outfits, from tall buff Minotaurs and more Ponyta-like creatures, to some bug-like ones that were freaking me out, between so many others.

“What… is this place?” I was awestruck, they were most definitely right, we were no longer in my dear Planet Earth, this place was way different.

“Welcome to Port Boot, mate.” Mixer chuckled as she saw my expression, “Where demons, ponies, griffins, zebras, and every single creature on the face of Equus can have a drink, cause som’ small trouble, and have a darn good time.”

        This would all take some getting used to.

        Mixer chuckled as she saw my reaction, patting me on the back with a smug grin, “Don’t ya worry mate, it’s not as bad as it looks… most of the times at least. So, what’s your name again?”

        “Uh… Th-thomas, Thomas McKenzie.” I replied, stuttering like an idiot as I watched the outside world in awe, my mind not being able to focus in just one thing, nor in anything for that matter.

        “Yeah… that name ain’t going to work ‘round these parts.” She hummed in thought, “What ‘bout Cyclops? You know ‘cus of the eye and all that, it’s either that or Mummy and I have to say, Cyclops sounds way better.”

        “Cyclops…” I nodded slowly, “I guess that doesn’t sound too bad.” My brain started repeating my new nickname over and over again as I watched the passing by demons. It was surreal, strange, magical. And little did I know that this little hell located in the middle of nowhere, was going to be my new home.