Your heart races as your run across the rolling hills of grass toward the fence you crossed only minutes ago. It is night but the sky is clear and the full moon shines brightly in the sky overheard. In the pale light you can make out the shapes of dozens of tiny Wooloo grazing in small groups. Some of the Pokemon look up from nibbling the grass as they hear you pass by. Most of the sheep follow you cautiously with their eyes but others shape themselves into a ball and roll away out of fear.



The fence grows nearer as you push yourself forward. You glance over your shoulder to check if you’re in the clear. You’ve put significant distance between yourself and your pursuer. His tall, cloaked form moves slowly across the hill at a causal pace as if having no real intention of catching you. A smile crosses your face. You’ve done it, at least, you thought you did. Your smile turns over as you feel your foot smash against a rock and you tumble into the grass. You seem to bang every part of your body on some rock or hard piece of ground as the hill keeps you rolling.



You cry out in pain as you finally slow to a stop. The world won’t stop spinning around you. The stars swirl overhead. You tru to push yourself from the ground but your strength has abandoned you. The bleating of sheep rises from a distance whisper to a roar that fills your ears. You know you can’t stay where you are. You have to get away.



You try to force yourself up once more, but this time you are stopped by a sharp jab to your chest. The cloaked man, your pursuer, the shepherd, stands over you with his staff held tightly in both hands. He pushes the wooden shaft against you harder, pinning you to the ground.



You look into the man’s eyes expecting to see them ripe with anger or hatred but you find nothing of the sort. The soft features of his face are relaxed, giving him an eerily calm look. He appears to be a man who has experienced this many times before and has grown desensitized to what he planned on doing to you— what your cousin warned you about.



You shouldn’t have done what you did. You should have listened to your cousin when he told you the stories of this place. Go anywhere in Galar, your cousin had said. Visit the wild areas and the cities. See the Pokemon and challenge the gyms, but DO NOT mess with the Wooloo in the ranch on the hill. He told you about the rumors— about the tourists who were never seen again. He didn’t want you to be one of them.



You shouldn’t have done what you did, but there was no taking it back now. You just had to get that video of yourself sneaking up on a Wooloo. You just had to show all your friends back in Kanto how the sheep Pokemon forms a ball and rolls away when it is frightened. You thought you would get away with it and you almost did. Now here you are.



“Please,” you plead as you grip the staff on your chest. You struggle beneath its weight but your efforts prove fruitless.



The shepherd stares down at you. You feel as though his eyes are peering into your very soul. He opens his mouth as if to reply but only whispers quietly. You try to make out whatever he is saying but can’t hear anything over the constant “bahhhs” of the sheep all around you.



“Please!” you beg once more. Tears start to stream down your face as your mind thinks of dozens of terrible things the shepherd may have done to those who came before you. You close your eyes out of fear. You don’t want to see what the shepherd is going to do. You silently beg Arceus for forgiveness for all the misdeeds you’ve done in your life and pray for your safety.



You feel the weight lift off your chest. You crack open an eye just to see if perhaps you may have been spared. The shepherd stands over you, his quiet whispers becoming ever louder as he repeats his chant again and again. You still cannot make out the words, not over the sounds of the dozens of Wooloo who now rolled around you in a tight circle. Something was happening.



Your heart pounds in your chest. You look all around in a desperate attempt to find some way to escape— there is none. You feel yourself growing hotter. Beads of sweat drip down your face. The stars dance in the sky overhead. The mass of rolling sheep has become little more blur of white. The world is spinning around you and there is nothing you can do to stop it.



Your body temperature continues to rise. Your arm instinctively goes to your forehead to wipe the sweat from your brow, but something isn’t right… The skin on your arm makes contact with something you didn’t expect. Your forehead is soft, fluffy even. The sweat on your arm is wiped away as if you had run a towel over it. Your eyes go cross as you attempt to see what is on your head. All you can make out is one large tuft of curly white hair and two smaller tufts of grey fur that seem to be growing out of your head with a braided look to them.



You try to grab at the fluff on your head just to get a sense of what it really feels like beneath your fingers, but you only get to experience the softness of your new hair for a moment before the feeling in your fingers is replaced by a sharp pain. You hold out your hands to see what was harming you only to find your fingers fusing together. Your nails appear to grow backward over your fingers until they consume both your hands, turning them into rounded hooves. You try desperately to move your fingers, to convince yourself that your eyes were lying, but all your efforts only serve to prove your observations correct.



The changes to your hands also appear to have happened to your feet as you see your shoes slide off your body. Your arms and legs itch as their form alters to make better use of the hooves you now bear. They grow shorter and your skin grows darker until it has become a dark gray color. You utter a cry out of fear and confusion but only find yourself able to muster a sharp “bahhh!”



You move to cover your mouth with your hooves to silence your sheepish cry but find yourself unable to bend your arms the right way to do so. You continue to cry out, unable to help it, as you watch and feel the rest of the changes claim your body. Your face elongates into an almost ellipsoid shape and your nose flattens into a tiny pink heart-like shape. Your moth shrinks and your eyes grow wider as the drift more toward the side of your head. You can feel your fluffy white hair part as two tiny horns sprout atop your head and your ears poke through the side.



You feel a pressure across your body. You look down to see your clothes bulging. Tufts of white hair poke out at the collar of your shirt and the hem of your jeans. The stitching that holds the cloth together appears ready to give way. The button pops off your pants. Your clothes tear as your glorious fluffiness breaks free.



You are now one of the most adorable creatures in existence, but you can’t even appreciate it. Your thoughts have shifted from terror to pure love of life in a matter of seconds. Your only desires are to eat grass and roll across the hills of your pastures with your fellow Wooloo. You forget your cousin and his warning. You forget your whole life and everything that just happened to you.



The shepherd smiles as he reaches down and digs his hands in your fluff to scratch behind your ears. You bleat happily as the quick scratches on your head send good feelings through your whole body. The shepherd gives you one final pat on the head before turning and guiding the flock across the fields.



You never could have known that your actions would have resulted in you becoming an adorable Pokemon or that your life would suddenly be filled with more happiness than you’ve ever felt before. You never could have know, but if you had, you’d do it all again.