This is a small commission for  metrohunter that I did recently. I've been meaning to shake off the rust a bit with writing because I have some big plans for 2025, so stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy the story.

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Tuli stared at the blinding white light of his computer and sighed. The spreadsheet in front of him was over half finished, but even after nine hours of work, it seemed nowhere near complete. It sat there, mocking him and egging him to continue as he blinked and rubbed his eyes. Turning his gaze from the ceaseless void of work, he sighed as he read the clock.

“Dang, 1 am already? I should probably call it quits for now and work on it more tomorrow.” Tuli softly spoke as he pushed his chair back from his desk and powered down his eye-searing monitors. The screens flickered off, revealing a tired bori with white fur and green-tipped ears. The heavy workload and long hours had not been kind to him, and this project in and of itself was the biggest pain in the ass. His glasses hung low over his strained eyes as he adjusted his jacket, taking a moment to look at the bags from underneath his eyes. His belly roared for attention as his attention had finally pulled away from looking at a computer screen for hours on end. “Guess I better get some food before going to bed.”

Slapping some leftovers from the Giant Omlette into the microwave, Tuli sighed as he watched the omlette slowly spin. Working from home had its upsides, such as never needing to worry about a coworker taking your lunch or your boss breathing down your neck as much, but the amount of work that was being piled on him was getting to the breaking point. Sure, it may pay well, but it felt with each passing day that it may not be worth it.

With the soft beep of the microwave, he carefully took out the plate of warmed-up food and scarfed it down. It was said that pieces of the giant omlette had a different flavor with every piece. However, the bori couldn’t place a claw on what exactly it tasted like. “Maybe this is why you should eat meals on time like a normal person,” Tuli muttered to themselves, finishing up the remaining bites. “And, of course, I’m going to have to wake up early in order to get that spreadsheet done. Dang it, I wish I could be able to sleep in.”

Unbeknownst to the Neopet, a star twinkled just a bit brighter somewhere high above him as it shot across the night sky.

Letting out a big yawn, Tuli dragged his claws against his face as he put the empty plate to the side and walked over to his bedroom. His clothes were unceremoniously tossed to the side before he collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. As his eyes began to feel heavy, he made his way under his covers and sighed, hoping that rest would come easy. Luckily, it did as the bori drifted away deep into slumber.

Tuli felt like he was falling. Tuli’s eyes snapped open as he looked around the dark void. There was no way to tell where he was or how high up, just the feeling of weightlessness and the rush of wind filling his ears. It is probably one of the weirdest nightmares he’s had in a while, but overall, it's pretty tame. “Damm, I finally got a dream where I’m lucid, and all it is is a dumb nightmare…Wait a minute, I’m lucid dreaming!”

Tuli let out a barking laugh as they spun around, taking a deep sigh and relaxing, no longer caring about falling. Stretching out, they leaned back on the air beneath them and lounged back. “I can do anything, right? I’m not really sure how this whole lucid dream stuff works.”

Clenching his eyes shut, Tuli tried to focus on his surroundings, looking for some way to change them magically. A relaxing beach or a nice soft bed would be wonderful right about now. As he thought, it felt as if his body was being lowered onto a soft, comfortable bed. The bori let out a heavy sigh as his body began to relax. All of the tension in his shoulders and back began to fade away. With a smile, he let himself sink even deeper into the soft bedding.

However, as he sank, he didn’t notice as his body began to relax and relax even more, muscles shrinking and bones began effortlessly changing. His rocky claws and back plates began to reside as his fur darkened to a grey charcoal. The tail behind him slowly went limp as the muscles and bones inside disappeared and began to shrink. His tail grew shorter and shorter, leaving the tuff of green fur which darkened to match his new fur.

Tuli shivered before falling back into the relaxing comfort of his surroundings. He was no longer falling into a dark hole. Instead, he was in a nice, relaxing red bed that seemingly enveloped him. His eyelids felt heavy as he tried to open his eyes. “W-...what’s happening?...”

Tuli’s body began to curl up as it shrank to fit a quadruped stance. The ears on top of his head began to shrink, becoming more vulpine in shape. The fur on his chest grew, enveloping around his neck like a scarf. Trying to move and grab ahold of his surroundings, Tuli lifted out a clawed hand, only for it to change into a tiny and soft paw in front of his eyes. With a yelp, Tuli flinched back as he slid out of his red surroundings. Gravity retook hold of his body as he bounced and crashed down onto a hard stone floor.

“Ow…what the?” Tuli grumbled as they tried to reorient themselves. Looking around, it seemed like he was now inside the mouth of a seemingly large cave. Rain lightly poured down outside the cave, seemingly in some sort of forest. “Well, this wasn’t exactly what I was thinking about how a lucid dream works. I mean, hey, it’s vivid. But a beach would be so much better.”

Tuli pushed himself up off the ground and froze. Why couldn’t he push himself any higher? And his legs? Looking down, Tuli barked as he was met with an unfamiliar set of paws supporting him. “What the hell?”

Scrambling over to a nearby puddle, Tuli looked down into the still puddle only to face a small fox Pokemon in the reflection, a Zorua. Lifting a paw shakily, he gasped as the puddle reflected his movements, his green eyes locked on the puddle.

“This..this is too real. What in the hell was in that omlette?” Tuli muttered as he looked down into his reflection. As he looked at himself, his eyes quickly dotted to some movement behind him, but before he could react, it struck. A pair of red claws grabbed the scruff of his neck and picked him off the ground, moving him to the face of a rather annoyed-looking Zoroark.

As Tuli tried to open his mouth to explain the situation to the large Pokemon calmly or, somewhat more understandably, scream a lot, the Zoroark quickly muzzled him. “Listen, I know you’re excited about going out tomorrow, but you need to rest. Come on, you wouldn’t like me being grumpy in the morning.” Holding the Zorua gently, the Zoroark walked over to a small spot where it had seemingly made a place to rest. However, instead of putting Tuli beside them, the Pokemon reached around and stuffed Tuli into their hair.

With a sputter, Tuli was let go and once again surrounded by a soft red environment from before. Half of his brain was trying to process what had happened. Is this a dream, or is it real? However, those thoughts were slowly overpowered by the other half of his brain as his paws kneaded the soft fur around him. It was so soft and fluffy, and he was so tired. Who cared about work, whatever he had to do tomorrow, or what he might not need to do? Tuli was tired, and the new bed that surrounded him felt inviting. With a sigh, Tuli plopped down and quickly dozed off with a small smile on his muzzle.

He couldn’t tell if it was real or an illusion, but who cares? It’s time to rest.