As it turns out, the forced imprisonment from Kingdra appeared to be just what I needed to help process what had happened to me. The long hours sitting alone in a damp cave left me little to do other than internal reflection.

  I had died.

  That was the first hurdle I had to get my head around. Arceus had mentioned that he had suppressed part of my memories to help keep my soul in shape, but I could feel his powers slipping hour by hour—first colour, then sound, then a smell I recognized. Then shapes. Then full scenes. And finally, the memory I’d been circling around without daring to face settled into place like a stone dropped into water.

  I remembered.

  The rain had been hammering the earth for hours, the weight of it turning streets into growing streams. A storm warning had been issued telling citizens to stay inside—good advice I was doing a spectacular job of ignoring. I knew about a stray dog that had recently had puppies living nearby. Each day I had been going out to leave food for her, slowly building trust until I could get close enough to leash her and bring her in for a full check-up and possible adoption. She was a beautiful, short-legged German shepherd, clearly mixed-breed with a gorgeous black and brown coat, yet despite this a nasty scar ran across her face straight through her left eye.

  A clear sign of previous abuse.

  I guess that’s why she was always so skittish around me. Still, I couldn’t just leave her and the pups out in the storm. If I couldn’t get her inside, I would at least try to help waterproof her den.

  As I approached her den, I could hear barking from the nearby river.

  “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, pulling the hood of my coat tight to block out the rain. “Please tell me she’s not in the river.”

  The river had swelled in size, nearly double what I was used to. Normally it would reach my chest, but at its current size I doubted I would even be able to reach the bottom.

  Standing on the riverbank was the dog, her usually fluffy fur sticking close to her body, completely soaked. And sitting in the middle of the river, on a small rock that was still above water level, was one of the pups.

  “God dammit, how did they even get there?” I asked, causing the dog to jump. I guess she hadn’t heard me approach with her barking and the rain. At first she lowered her body, growling with her hackles raised, but once I pulled back my hood she seemed to recognize me and turned back to her stranded pup.

  “So how are we going to get them back?”

  Judging the distance, it appeared to be around five meters from the bank—not insurmountable. I was fairly fit and confident I could jump it; however, there had to be a better way to go about this.

  The dog’s barking grew more frantic as I looked around for anything that might help. Looking back to the rock, I could see that it had started to take on water—the river was rising quicker than I’d expected.

  “Fuck it, we don’t have time for anything else,” I said as I gave myself enough room for a running start. With a short sprint and a large jump I landed just shy of the rock, managing to get my arms around it before the rush of the river pulled me away. With a huge effort I managed to pull myself up.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The rock had just enough space for me to fit both of my feet on it. Taking the pup in my arms, I realized I had made a mistake. Well—I had made many mistakes, but one stood above the rest: I had made it to the rock, but I had no way back. Without the room for a running start, there was no way I could clear the distance.

  Panic started to set in.

  “I’ve really screwed myself here, haven’t I?” I let out a small chuckle at the dangerous position I had put myself in. I thought the safest plan was to wait out the storm and hope someone else came along to help me. While the water was rising, I would fare better than the pup alone.

  That plan quickly came to an end when I saw a fallen tree floating down the river, approaching quickly and picking up speed.

  “If that hits us, we are both done for,” I said to the pup in my arms.

  With only moments left before the tree arrived, I made the decision to give at least one of us a chance. Planting my feet as steady as I could, I pulled my arm back and threw the pup toward its mother as hard as I could.

  The last thing I saw was the pup landing safely on the bank next to its mother before the tree hit me, knocking me off the rock and into the rushing river. After that, I was battered against rocks before my vision went black.

  Bringing my mind back to the present, I let out a shiver. The memories of my death were anything but pleasant, but getting pulled down into a depression was the last thing I needed with my current situation.

  Looking around the den, I realized that I couldn’t feel the imposing presence of Kingdra.

  “Might as well make the most of the time I’m alone and try to find some way out of this mess.”

  Exploring the cave didn’t take all that long, only around five minutes to walk to its deepest part, which was thankfully slightly elevated and dry. I moved the egg here while I explored the rest of the cave.

  Small outcoves were hidden in dark corners; based on how smooth the stone was, I assumed they were not natural.

  “Maybe Kingdra knows Ancient Power and can mold rock,” I told myself. I had taken to speaking my thoughts out loud more than I normally did—it helped fill the endless silence of my prison.

  In these outcoves I found all sorts of exciting treasures, from Water Stones to what I was pretty sure were honest-to-goodness gold nuggets.

  Still, as much as I could make selling these treasures, they didn’t help me in my current situation. Returning to the cave’s entrance, I found a small group of three Horsea playing with each other.

  “Hey there, little guys,” I called out, getting their attention. Two of them quickly dipped below the water, swimming a safe distance away, while one remained, looking at me with… fascination? At least that’s the impression I got from the seahorse.

  “Hor, Horsea!” it called out excitedly.

  “Huh, I guess you’re happy to see me,” I responded as I sat by the edge of the rock—close enough that I could give the little guy scratches on his head, which he loved.

  The Horsea turned away from me but made sure I was still in contact with them as they puffed up their chest and let out what I assumed to be a Water Gun. It flew out of the cave and made a large splash as it hit the ocean.

  Falling onto my back, I was exhausted. While I wasn’t exactly bursting with energy before, after Horsea let out that attack I felt like I had just run a marathon. Laying on the damp cave floor, the sea breeze seemed to get even colder, and the helplessness of the situation truly set in. I had been reborn in a world full of Pokémon—creatures almost magical in their abilities, something that would have excited me to no end before. But now I was naked and alone, trapped in some sea cave guarded by a dragon.

  No one knew where I was—hell, no one even knew I was missing to look for me! With no access to food or even fresh water, it was only a matter of time before I died here.

  Tears ran down my cheeks as I held myself, despair sinking deep into my bones.

  “KINGDRA!”

  I heard scratching. “Great… that’s the last thing I need,” I mumbled as I curled up tighter, waiting for my jailer’s return.