Sweet Apple Acre’s, Fifteen Minutes Earlier...
Drilbur had the thought capacity of an acorn sometimes, but not just any regular acorn, it was an acorn that had been vigorously chewed and nibbled on by a collective of starving Raticates. Sure, Victini would trust the mole with his life if he were ever in danger considering the bond of friendship that they shared. But it was times like these that made him wonder how he was ever going to hook up with Infernape.
Unless the fiery fighter had a thing for dopey ground types, Victini would have to take an educated guess that the odds of Drilbur ever making Infernape his mate were slim to none. Regardless of the situation, however, this was not about Victini. He was still inside the Apple’s farmhouse chatting it up with the members of the family that he didn’t have a glaring lack of trust for.
Out in the vast apple orchards that were the very livelihood of Sweet Apple Acres, Drilbur wandered around as the verdant trees filled with ruby red apples peaked his rural interest. With an expression that was a mix of wonder and curiosity, he failed to take notice of a large rabbit hole that was present near the base of the largest and oldest tree in the orchard.
He stared up towards the branches of the trees to marvel the beauty nature had to offer and as fate would dictate it, he stubbed his toe upon a nearby root and tripped. Losing his balance entirely, the poor mole was left tumbling forward at a blinding speed, bouncing on and off the dirt until he rocketed through the air and landed right into the mysterious hole..
* * *
As if it were straight out from the memorable unlit screen of a gameboy color, Drilbur ricocheted off one underground tunnel to the next almost as if he was trapped in a pinball machine. His world was spinning faster than a Hitmontop and he soon turned green from the nauseating speed and random jolts in several different direction. It was like the tear in the dimensions all over again.
Eventually, it had to stop. His solace came in the form of a bright light, followed by the force of being slammed directly into the trunk of another tree. A group of tiny Cleffa danced around Drilbur’s noggin as his senses were jumping all over the place. He shook his head to clear his head, but only succeeded in making his headache even worse.
The world in his eyes was split into threes. Slowly, but surely, his vision returned to normal and he was greeted with the image of a dark yet grandiose forest. This forest was surprisingly colorful, with a range of vibrant hues and shades cascading the area like a beautiful painting. Just when his headache was about to settle down, a bump pushed him forward and he got a faceful of dirt.
“Hey!” Drilbur shouted as he got up “Who did that” he turned to face the culprit, only to let out a gasp as to who it was “Victini?” though he could swear that it was Victini standing in front of him, he looked a little... different to say the least.
For starters, his fur wasn’t cream colored. Rather it was a coat of pure snow white, something that contrasted to the fact that he was fire pokemon. His ears, hands and feet were still a bright fiery orange though. In addition to all that, he was wearing a pretty fancy suit, complete with a frilly collar and gripped a pocket watch that looked far too big to fit in his hands.
“Hey, buddy. You’re shiny! And where’d you get that awesome suit from?” he asked. But Victini wasn’t listening to him. He was too busy pacing around all nervous like, checking the time on his pocket watch frantically as if his life counted on it.
“Oh, dear! Oh, dear! We’re late, Drilbur! We’re late!” he cried, much to Drilbur’s confusion “How can we be this late? We’re usually so punctual!”
“Wuah? Late? Late for what?” Drilbur asked but his answer came in the form of having his claws tugged on and pulled across the forest by Victini.
“Come on! Come on! We’re going to be late!” Victini shouted as he flew with Drilbur in tow. Drilbur could do or say nothing as his motion sickness kicked in again. However, in spite of all the motion, he could make out the forest in all its entirety.
The trees surround the area reached as far up as the dark skies permitted. Several bird pokemon laid perched on each branch that the two past, but they were all different just like VIctini. The Taillow living there had pencils for heads, and the Pidoves were all shaped like ball horns. The Starly had mirrors for faces and the Fearrow became a set of walking eyeglasses.
Other than that, there were also a bizarre group of sentient keys that jingled fiercely at him. Drilbur’s eyes widened past his sockets. He was beginning to wig out.
“Come on! We’re almost there!” Victini shouted from in front.
“Almost where?” Drilbur asked, only to soon get his face smacked by an outstretched branch. He felt his grip on Victini’s hand loosen and he found himself falling down into the dark forest. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell, awaiting for contact with the cold hard ground again. It never came. What he did felt though was the feeling of being splatted onto a small yet sweet smelling lake.
* * *
After experiencing that, Drilbur can now say without a shadow of doubt to everyone he knew that water was not, in every sense of word, soft. Surface tension, gravity and science have made a terrible new enemy this day in the form of Drilbur now. He lapped his lips as he laid unmoving atop the surface of the lake. It tasted... sweet, and comforting at the same time. All the aches he felt were going away as he drank up the water from the lake.
“Ho, now! What’s going on here!?” a voice shouted “I don’t remember it being anyone’s unbirthday today! Oh, ho!”
“Well it’s always someone else’s unbirthday today” another voice replied “There’s only one birthday but over three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays in a year!”
Drilbur pulled his weary self out of the and tried to locate the source of the sound. As he did, he took notice to the fact that he wasn’t in a lake at all, it was a gigantic teacup. And the water that he was drinking was actually tea. Camomille to be exact.
To his left was a Zoroark who, like Victini before him, was dressed up perhaps the most ridiculous suits that he had ever seen. The crazy hat that he wore was perhaps the only thing that tied together the whole attire.
To his right was a Buneary who was in the same boat as the Zoroark was when it came to fashion. But the one thing that separated this Buneary from the rest was how his eyes were looking in about two different directions at all times. Never really focusing on one thing at a time.
“Well, hello there!” the Buneary greeted as he yanked Drilbur out from the teacup and onto a plush seat “I’m the March Hare! Care for a spot of tea?” he asked as he pulled out a tower of teacups that was teetering back and forth with an itty bitty teapot that carried more tea than it should. Drilbur opened his mouth to speak was stopped when he was pull over to Zoroark’s side.
“Don’t be rude, Buneary” the illusion pokemon smiled “I’ve yet to introduce myself to this gentlepokemon. You can call me The Hatter!” he shook Drilbur’s claws vigorously, shaking the poor mole up and down on his seat “Please! Please! Sit down and enjoy a spot of tea with the three of us!”
“T-three?” said Drilbur as he counted only two pokemon. Just then, one of the teapots exploded and out shot a tiny Dedenne who was held afloat by an equally tiny umbrella in a loud and flashy display of fireworks. The Dedenne wore an amazingly tiny suit that fitted just perfectly and looked like he had a few to much to drink.
“Twinkle... twinkle little Zubat... how I wonder where you’re at” the Pichu slurred “Up above... the world you fly... like a tea tray in the sky...”
“Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!” Zoroark and Buneary wildly cheered at the magnificent performance as Drilibur’s sanity was slowly being picked at by this place “How remarkable! Always so splendid to be graced with a song from a friend Dormouse!”
“U-uh... guys? This is n-nice and all but I really need to find my friend” Drilbur stuttered nervously. Zoroark, Buneary, and Dedenne turned to face Drilbur each with a smile on their face.
“Of course!, Of course!” said Buneary as he grabbed onto Drilbur’s right arm “We mustn't keep you from meeting with your dear friend, Victini, now should we. Hmm, Hatter?”
“Positively, old chum!” the Zoroark replied back as he grabbed onto Drilbur’s left arm “Before you leave, we might as well give you your unbirthday present”
“M-my what? Wait, how do you know abo-” Drilbur asked fearfully but was interrupted as he was being hauled towards the edge of the woods.
“Why, your unbirthday present of course!” the two announced fervently while ignoring everything that he’s been saying. They heaved Drilbur back, readying something that put the poor mole’s nerves on edge “It’s been a great unbirthday party and with you being the guest of honor it was all the more merrier!”
“Uh... guys? What are you doing? G-guys... stop that... s-stop! Wait! WAIT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Drilbur cried out in despair as he was chucked across the sky like a baseball.
“Happy unbirthday, Drilbur! We really must meet again!” the trio of pokemon waved the mole off as he strode his way into the sky, past the sunset and into the hearts of children everywhere. Just kidding. He landed flat on his face near a garden surround by a group of Roserades and card carrying Bisharps...