Chapter 1: An Unplanned Awakening

Alec woke up in a cold sweat. He didn’t have control over his body. His tired eyes struggled to re-adjust from the sharp awakening. Is this sleep paralysis? He was worried. He knew this ran in the family, but this would be a first for him.

Alec’s eyes started to adjust more. But instead of the usual deep blue room that was lined with sports posters and awards, he was greeted with the rough, rigid walls of what appeared to be stone. This worried him even more, as he didn’t even know of any caves around where he lived.

Alec tilted his head ever so slightly to see that he was completely entangled into a spider’s web. Realizing this, he tried to break free. However, this time he was met with a mild shock. Alec quickly shouted in pain. “What the hell…” he muttered under his breath. 

A quiet scuttling noise was heard deeper in the cave. By tilting his head more, Alec could see a set of 6 glistening eyes staring directly at him. An electrical hum could be heard, and sparks could be seen coming from the eyes.

Alec could put two and two together. This was a Galvantula nest. And he was it’s next meal. 

How did it even come to this? What did I do to deserve it? I´ve lived a pretty decent life, it wasn’t perfect, but I mean, come on.

The Galvantula was slowly stalking toward the nest, not breaking eye contact with Alec. During its approach, Alec could see that it was much larger than the ones he had seen in the past. Bigger than himself, even. The only thing he could do at this point was something that he had almost never done: scream.

“HELP! SOMEONE! I’M TRAPPED IN HERE WITH A GIANT GALVANTULA! PLEASE!”

The Galvantula stuck its talons into two stray tendrils of the web, sending a shock through the web. Alec cried out once again. Then, to Alec’s surprise, the Galvantula spoke.

“Jeez, y’ take one ‘mon ‘n suddenly itsa issue. Just shaddup a bit, wonchya?” 

This confused Alec further. So not only is it a larger than life Galvantula, but it was one who could speak? This gave Alec’s dream theory more water, but it still felt too… real. 

“I reckon some lunch is n’ ordah” the Galvantula, with a look of vast hunger, started to advance towards Alec. Alec began to count his blessings. 

Welp. This is how I die. Not of old age, not a heroic death, just as some spider’s lunch. If I do make this out alive, I swear, I am going to find who threw me in here and–

Alec’s inner monologue was interrupted by the Galvantula slowly floating into the air. “Oy, da ‘ell is goin’ on?” The Galvantula’s spindly legs were flailing as a shimmering blue aura appeared around him. Then, all of a sudden, the spider was thrown against an adjacent wall, shattering the stalactite formation Alec was suspended upon. He crashed to the ground, breaking free from the web encasement. 

With his vision still spinning, he attempted to get up. However, he almost immediately fell right back down. It almost felt like he was trying to stand on stilts. Damn, did I hit my head that hard?

The Galvantula got up once again, only for a small, white ball to collide with him at a rapid speed. The Galvantula was knocked over once again, and the ball proceeded to unfurl into a Sandshrew. Alec noted that this was an Alolan Sandshrew, at that.

“Shannah! Get back!” A somewhat shaky voice replied. The Sandshrew, apparently named Shannah, sidestepped, as a beam of psychic energy fired directly at the ceiling above where the encounter took place. More stalactites fell down, and created a crumbled trap around the Galvantula.

The Galvantula struggled. “Ya dirty guild blokes! ‘Reatin us like garbage!” 

Approaching from Alec’s peripheral vision came a Grumpig. He approached Alec with a worried expression. “Are you alright lad?” the Grumpig asked, with his hoof outstretched.

Alec’s vision was slowly normalizing, but the situation wasn’t getting any less bizarre. Maybe if I just go with it I’ll wake up soon? He reached out for the Grumpig’s hand only to immediately jump back with a shriek. Taking another look at his hand, he saw a tiny white paw, with small, pink pads lining up the ends of his digits and palm.

Looking down, he saw that his body was covered in a purpley-gray fur. His legs and feet seemed to suffer the same fate as his arms and hands.

“W-why… how… no…” Alec began to stutter in fear. This wasn’t like anything he had ever experienced before. He continued to look at himself in bewilderment.

Shannah gave the Grumpig a concerned look. “Dad… this Espurr doesn’t seem right in the head. We should just fly him back already.” 

“Good call champ. Get the badge prepared.” The Grumpig handed Shannah a small, winged badge. It faintly glimmered of gold.

As Shannah approached the petrified Alec, a loud crashing noise was heard from behind. The Galvanutla had somehow broken free of his rock trap, but something seemed different about him. His eyes glowed a bright, white light. It let out a monsterous cry, and started to rampage towards the team. 

“Shit! He’s gone primal!” The Grumpig scooped up Shannah and Alec and began to run away towards the exit of the cave.

The Galvantula was quick to catch up, however. It leapt forward and landed right on the Grumpig, knocking Alec and Shannah out of his grasp.

With a hiss, the Galvantula raised its front legs, preparing to strike. Shannah dashed forward and threw an icicle at the looming spider, knocking it off its balance. The Grumpig took this opportunity to roll away and use a Psybeam at the Galvantula as he got up. The Galvantula reared back and hissed again, but it didn’t seem too bothered. 

“We can’t fight this thing alone. We need to run. ” The Grumpig ushered Alec and Shannah to follow him as he ran towards the exit. Shannah started to run too. However, as Alec got up, he struggled to stand once again. It felt like all the balance in his body had been shifted.

As Alec wobbled, the Galvantula stampeded closer. Alec very awkwardly tried to run, but it felt like he was doing so on tiptoes. After a valiant attempt of three steps, he tripped once again, and fell right to the ground on his back. 

The Galvantula then jumped right in front of him. The glowing white eyes pierced through Alec’s soul, almost paralyzing him in his place. The Galvantula then began to lunge at him.

Alec screamed for his life as he held his paws in front of him. CLUNK. The Galvantula reared back, with its middle set of eyes shut. Alec saw a shimmering circle had appeared around his paws. But before he could inspect them for too long, they dissipated. 

The Galvantula shook his head and got up once again. Before he could do anything, a small seed flew directly at Alec’s head, and fell to the ground. Cracked open, the seed surrounded Alec in a shimmering light. The Galvantula leapt forward, glowing with electricity. As Alec braced himself once again, he suddenly was in a flowery meadow. He looked around, noticing that the mouth of the cave was right in front of him, and he was met with the gaze of the Grumpig and Shannah.

“Great aim Dad!” Shannah exclaimed. 

“We’ll celebrate later. We need to go, now .” The Grumpig held up a small, blue orb. The orb began to shimmer, much like the seed from earlier, and a circle of light formed around the group. Within the blink of an eye, Alec was in yet another new location, this being a crossroads, facing a set of stairs going up a mountain. 

Alec’s mind was racing much faster than what he could handle. He felt exhausted beyond belief. He promptly passed out.