For a moment, I was simply confused, not sure who, where or when I was. My surroundings were completely dark and my brain felt sluggish, not quite firing on all cylinders. A loud sound, far too close for comfort, caused adrenaline to flood my system, my heart instantly starting to race, making me shoot upright, starting to scramble around in a panic. I had no idea what the sound had been, it had sounded like cracking wood, followed by crashing and more splintering sounds, just outside my tent. My hand closed around something solid in the dark as I crawled to the exit, barely managing to get out of the open flap.

Still on my knees, I looked up and froze, staring uncomprehendingly at the massive creature before me, visible in the pale light of a silver moon. Or maybe I would have been able to see it without the light, it’s eyes, far above my head, were glowing with a malignant, red light.

There was nothing I could do but stare, even breathing was impossible. A mouse before the cat. Or maybe before a snake? The object I had gripped before, previously so comfortingly solid in my hand, slipped from suddenly numb fingers, dropping to the floor next to me. Some part of my mind must have still been active as the realisation what I had gripped flashed through me. It had been the flimsy plastic Pokeball Arthur had hidden in my back, in a continuation of the music-prank he had played on me, when I had started my journey.

A sudden, bright flash caused me to instinctively blink, allowing my mind a moment without the pure terror blinding me. With a ragged gasp, I managed to suck in a breath of fresh air when I noticed the being that had appeared next to me. Barely as tall as I was, still half-kneeling within my tent, yet it stood in front of me, trying to shield me from the massive monster before us.

A strangely grating screech, loud enough to hurt, cut through the air, making me cover my ears in pain. Next to me, the small creature staggered back, clearly in pain, as I realised who, or maybe what, was shielding me. Despite there being a part of my mind that insisted on the impossibility of it all, I could feel the heat coming from the flame on its tail, see the light flickering, reflecting off the scales and hear the pitiful sound it made, after the screech died down. Maybe it was the diminutive size of my companion, maybe something else, I wasn’t quite sure, but something gave me the strength to stand, to push myself up, even as my mind was reeling.

The first step forward might have been the most difficult task I had ever undertaken but somehow, I managed it, stepping forward and standing tall, facing the monster before me. For the first time, my mind had enough clarity to see what I was facing, to take in more than the glowing, red eyes, high above my head. The dim moonlight made it hard to see colours, reducing the monster to a dark silhouette in the night, and what a silhouette it was.

Everything about it looked massive, from the head, with the glowing eyes, easily a story above my head, to the body and trunk-like legs, there was nothing light about the creature in front of me. When the monster took a step forward, making me feel faint vibrations through the ground, I realised that I had been wrong, the change in light allowing me to see a pair of airy, almost ethereal-looking wings, far too small to carry the monster before me.

As the monster took the next step forward, a different screech cut through the air, just as loud as the earlier one, coming from behind me. A second one, joining the first, almost sent me back to my knees in pain, but somehow, I managed to stay on my feet. My legs were in no condition to turn around but I managed to turn my head, even as fear was trying to paralyse me again and part of me wished I hadn’t looked.

Behind me were two more monsters, about as big as the one in front of me. The one on my left side looked a little like the one in front of me. While all three were similar in size, those two were on all four, or rather six legs. The one on the right side was upright, standing on a pair of legs, leaving its two arms, with wicked-looking claws, free to do things. Like tear me to pieces, if that thing ever wanted to. Not that it would need to, any of the three could simply step on me, and I’d be done for. One, on my left side, looked a little like the one in front of me, a massive silhouette, only with fewer legs. Where the one in front of me had many, that one only had two, alongside two arms, high above my head.

Trying not to think about massive claws, I looked to the one on the right, trying to think about nice things. It reminded me a little of a horse, that was a nice thing. I felt hysterical laughter bubbling up within me, when the image of a nice, friendly horse I tried to focus on fell apart in my mind, as the spikes that were all over its body and the pair of horns intruded. Sure, horses had a tail, and that thing had one, too.

Sure, the tail on it had more in common with a tree, or maybe a massive serpent than with a horse’s tail, but it was a tail at least. All three had one, they shared that in common.

There was another thing that all three shared, they seemed too angular for living beings, especially with the way the moonlight reflected off the one on the right. It was almost as if its body was metallic, or maybe studded with gems. Unnatural, a part of my mind insisted, as if the existence of house-sized monsters was supposed to be natural.

For a moment, the pressure around me intensified, sending me back to my knees, only to suddenly vanish. Once it was gone, I could look up again and the being that had been on my right was now next to the first one, in front of me, looking down at me, together with the other one. Then, as if they had never been there, they vanished in the literal blink of an eye.

When I felt faint vibrations behind me, I tried turning around, only for my legs to refuse cooperation, sending me sprawling. For a second, I simply lay there, feeling the earth beneath me, as I was gasping for breath. Another vibration pulled me from my stupor and I managed to push myself up one more time, first to my knees, then, with a massive effort of willpower, to my feet. A stubborn part, buried deep within me, was insisting that I would not be forced to kneel, no matter in front of whom. Or what.

Looking up, the third of the monsters was right in front of me, close enough to touch if I only dared to take a step forward. But I didn’t have to, it bent down a little, reaching out with its massive, clawed arm. I simply stared, my legs barely keeping me upright, when the being clumsily, but very, very gently, patted my head, as if it was trying to soothe a startled animal. With its touch, I could feel brief flashes of alien emotion, coming from the massive creature in front of me. There was regret but also relief and curiosity.

Before my mind could process the events, the being simply vanished, like the other two had. There was no disturbance in the air, no wind or anything that might have hinted at what was going on. It was as if there had been a cut in the scene, in one moment the being was there, in the next it was not.

For a moment, I simply stood there, too confused to make sense of the reality around me. Or was it reality? A gust of wind caused me to shiver all over, only now noticing just how cold it was.

A soft growl, coming from right next to me, got my attention, together with a feeling of warmth. Looking down, I was seeing Charmander, just as I had earlier. Was I dreaming? But could I be cold in a dream, to the point that my teeth started to chatter? This couldn’t be, couldn’t be real. Shaking my head, trying to deny the reality around me, I pinched my arm, hard, the sharp pain sending a jolt through my body. But nothing around me changed. Shouldn’t I wake up, if I was dreaming?

Gently, almost afraid to make contact, I reached out, feeling the head of the impossibility next to me. It was warm, tiny scales giving it’s skin a curiously smooth, yet rough feeling. The individual scales were perfectly smooth, but the way they overlapped gave them a certain roughness. It was fascinating. And it was real, at least it felt real.

Struggling to make sense of the events, I sank to my knees, desperately gripping the lizard in front of me, as if it was an anchor in the storm of confusion that was roaring within my mind. My breathing was speeding up and I felt a strange disconnect between my body and my head, as if my body was hanging beneath my head, which was suspended on strings. Closing my eyes helped, maybe when I opened them back up, the impossible reality around me would be gone.

“Char!” There was another soft growl and I felt two small arms go around me, at least as far as they could. It was impossible, but it felt real.

“Lucario, keep an eye out for trouble!” I was sure I heard a female voice, calling out commands, “Poryone, we need some light. Porytwo and Porythree, I want a full scan of the clearing, and gather as much data as you can.”

This couldn’t be real. Or could it?