Pokemon - Solo's Strange Journey

Zoey-POV:

"... Are you still mad at us?" Dawn asks and I can't help but chuckle.

He looks calm as a cucumber. "No, Dawn. Why would I be mad at you, Dawn?"

Lunch just ended, and now we're all heading up to the Space-Time Towers. Our last sightseeing goal before our scheduled date!

"... Because we drew graffiti on your face."

Haha! And I convinced them to do it too!

"Damn sleepover rules." Swole mutters. Whoever falls asleep first risks having their face painted with markers.

Everyone knows that's how it goes.

"'Property of Dawn', 'Can't hold his liquor'," He lists off our greatest hits. "An inky paw print by Buneary... But who drew the dick?"

"It was Salandit. Yer pokemon are all such characters." Dawn chuckles at my description. "And what Riolu drew is just too cute."

"She too? I thought I got everything off in the morning."

"Nope. It's still there. It's at the back of yer neck."

"What is it?"

"Not telling ya. It's cute though. You should leave it alone."

"Good grief. At least it's not permanent marker."

We arrive at the plaza in front of the Space-Time Towers. A wide, open area where trainers and families are interacting with each other and showing off their pokemon and pets.

One group has a Torterra, Infernape and an Empoleon. They look a little older than us and probably started their Sinnoh journey last year or the year before.

Ash ends up challenging them to a fight but tells us to go ahead to the tower. 

I kinda wanted to watch but Swole whispered something about Ash wanting to keep his strategies a secret, so the party split up again. Brock and Alice stayed behind with Ash, and we - the original gang plus me - headed into the towers first.

The inside is sparkly, polished and impressive. The towers are connected at the base, and standing in the middle, I can see the centerpieces of each tower.

The space-tower holds a massive orbital model of the solar system, while the time-tower contains an array of gigantic pendulums with different lengths and sizes. Their symbolism is simple but their sight is still awe-inspiring. Who knew they could build such grand mechanisms over a hundred years ago?

A staircase leads up straight from the middle of the building: Up to a room that sits between the towers, suspended by bridges, connecting both of them. Inside the room is a machine that functions as a control device for the world's largest musical instrument.

At least, that's what a plaque at the foot of the stairs claims.

Barry challenges Swole to a race up the stairs but I doubt he stands a chance. They start off equal, but I can't imagine my boyfriend losing in a physical competition. He has started to become an absolute hunk.

Just a little more and he can finally pull off the tank-top and suit style. Hehehe, my sisters are gonna be so jealous when they meet him.

Dawn and I pace ourselves as we hike up the extremely tall, spiraling staircase. Ornate metal facades keep us from falling, but there are holes in the guardrails that are large enough for a child to possibly climb through before plummeting to their deaths.

It's especially insidious because the guard-rails look so climbable. Perfect handholds at every place.

"Why is this so easy for you?" Dawn pulls me back to the here and now with a slightly strained voice.

"I helped out at my family's farm a lot. Really builds up muscles, ya know? And I jog with Misdreavus in the mornings."

"How can Misdreavus jog-- Never mind, that's not what I meant."

"... Then I don't get it."

"How are you just okay with sharing Swole?"

"I--"

She cuts me off. "I get why Akari is alright with it. She's literally from another century. And she's kind of a gold-digger. But what's in it for you? I just don't get it! And you're not just not against it, you even convinced him to get more girlfriends!"

"Bec--"

"It's so infuriating! Don't you care about him?"

"Of--"

"If I had him first, I wouldn't have let any women even get close to him!"

"Dawn--"

"And it would only make sense that he should be mine, and mine alone. We've known each other for our entire lifetimes. I mean, do you know what his favorite food is?"

"Steak--"

She glares at me. "Spaghetti. His mom's spaghetti. He loves that stuff."

"That's not what he wrote me."

"... Prove it."

I hand her my phone and show her the messages we wrote to each other. I know that there is a search function, but she chooses to scroll instead.

At some points, she stopped scrolling. Probably to look at the pictures.

"... Ancient Sinnoh History... absolute favorite book of all time... Cynthia's number? That's how he got her number?"

"Yeah, I'm actually impressed with that one. Cynthia never even had a boyfriend. Publicly at least."

"Sniff. How can you say that? How can you stay so confident when he might replace us with Cynthia?"

"Why would he do that? My sisters taught me how all boys think. And it's rather simple actually. Why would he decide between two cakes when he can have both?"

"... What?"

"We're the cakes."

"I get that! But you can be full after eating too much cake."

"No you can't. I've seen you stuff your face with sweets when you thought nobody was looking."

"Hey! I did not!"

She totally did, but that's not important right now. "Let's forget about the giga-pack of sweets you got at the Jubilife festival and devoured on the same evening. Let's get back on topic."

She growls. I better stop antagonizing her if I want to continue a civil, shared life with her.

"I can promise you that he won't leave you. That's just not how guys work. Boys are easy."

"... But what if he does?"

"Then I'll bring you back into the harem as my girlfriend. Easy solution. Haha!"

"... I'm straight."

"So are noodles until they get wet... Which is what my sisters said. No idea what that's actually supposed to mean though."

"You are such a bullshitter."

"Haha! Are you better now? I think I hear the boys up ahead. We must be close to the top already."

"... Yeah..." She doesn't sound very convincing but rubs away an errand tear from the corner of her eyes.

We pass the final stair, and what immediately comes into sight is the true centerpiece of the Space-Time Towers. An enormous, steampunk machine of bronze tubes, glass containers, cogs, gears and whatnot.

A nearby sign explains how to activate the controller and play the music stored on metal disks. One must press down a paddle to remove the old disk, push a new one into the disk-reader, push it down firmly, and then pull a large lever next to it.

Anyone is allowed to do that, apparently. The first thing Dawn does is distract herself with the machine, trying to get it to work while I look around to find the boys.

They are standing near a railing. This room has the double function as an observation platform.

And it's quite the worthy view from up here. The whole town can be seen. The mountains around us and even the shimmering surface of the lake; Blue, sunny skies reflect from it.

There's absolutely nothing like that back home at the farm. Godey really did an amazing job with the towers and the garden. I wonder what else he designed before the money ran out?

A loud bell tolls before more bells join and it turns into music. Dawn succeeded in starting the machine and the sounds of classical music plays in our ears.

I turn my attention back to Swole. His Buneary and Salandit have already seen me coming but he hasn't. His back is still turned and he looks to be engrossed in watching the view.

It's a great opportunity to get my revenge!

I get closer. My hand is ready to smack his ass so hard he won't be able to sit for weeks!

Hehe...

"Hello there."

"Ah!" He swiftly turned around at the last second and caught my hand. "How!?"

"Hehe. Aura. And Dawn started the music player. And Buneary can't notice things without becoming a little twitchy."

"Paranoid."

"It's not paranoia if they really are after me."

"Who are they?"

He motions for me to get closer and whispers in my ear. "... Women."

"Haha! You're such a bullshitter."

"Hey!" Dawn sneaked herself between Swole and Barry. "You stole my catchphrase."

"That's not your catchphrase." Swole says. "Stop trying to have catchphrases. You're not an anime character, you know?" Then he kisses her to calm her down.

"But you are?"

"Yeah?"

She's pouts.

"This is a pretty nice view, isn't it?" Swole asks after a while, as we all look at the mountains. "There is just one thing that would make it even better..."

"What do you mean?" Dawn is as clueless as always.

He steps back a few steps before pushing Dawn and me closer together.

"Now that's a perfect view!"

A huge grin spreads across Dawn's face, and even I wasn't immune despite knowing it was coming. "Haha! You smooth-talking bullshitter."

---

"You said you noticed me with your aura. Right?"

Yesterday, after having our fun with his face, I had some time to think and my thoughts kept drifting to aura.

It seems like an invaluable skill to have. Especially since I plan to venture into the wilderness at some point. It's a dangerous place and being a little sturdier would go a long way.

As to why I would want to step into such a dangerous place? Someone might ask if they listened in to my thoughts:

My pokemon are great but none of them have the raw power to be my ace pokemon. Perhaps Misdreavus if I can get my hands on a Dusk Stone but until then, I'm simply not going to get past the final battle in any contest.

And I really don't want to lose against Jessie in a contest again! Her Seviper is just too strong!

"Can you do that... intrusive thing to give me aura? You said it wasn't sex."

"Well. Sure. But you already have aura. I would just give you a better feeling for it. And about the intrusive part. There is a risk we become soulmates."

Huh? "Did you make that up? How would that even work?"

"I put my aura into your body. This would force you to feel it. I understand how that part works and I'm confident I could do it."

"That does sound intrusive."

"That's what I said back then, too. But the results were worth it in my opinion. However, once we are done, I kind of need to get out again. Without leaving a copy of parts of my soul behind. This part, I don't know how to do that."

... Soulmates is an apt description in that case. That's a huge commitment.

My eldest sister had almost a dozen boyfriends and none of them were ever enough for her. I told him back then that we were just experimenting around and now this!? It's more commitment than marriage even!

Divorce is always an option for an unhappy wife but I can't just stop being soulmates.

... On the other hand, some people waste their whole lives trying to find a soulmate who might not even exist. It would grant the ultimate reassurance. I would know who I need to be with for the rest of my life.

Which might not be so long anymore. Just 10 years. If the news is right. That's not a lot of time. Even if I had a child now, I would never get to send them out on their own pokemon journey. There are so many things I will miss out on...

"D-do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely certain?"

The benefits outweigh the risks. I nod.

"Alright. Turn your back to me."

I do that and then look at Dawn for some mental support... She just looks at me in her usual slightly seething jealousy. I'm not getting any mental support from her.

Barry? He turned his back after Swole began to roll up the hem of my shirt a bit.

His hand moves up the rest of the way to lay between my shoulder blades. Under the strap of my bra.

And then, all of a sudden heat rushes into my body. Starting from my back and quickly spreading across all my limbs.

The moment it reaches his-- my head it feels as if our thoughts have completely merged with me.

I can feel how hot my back is through my hand and it reminds me of when Lucario did the same thing for me. The heat isn't as surprising this time around and once again, there is no pain. It's a nice, pleasant feeling.

But... The consequences of this will be immense. A worry flitters through our heads. Bound for life. Commitment for life. Will there still be enough time to train our pokemon?

There is another feeling, this one in my groin. I have both parts right now... That's such a weird feeling.

And is that how Dawn usually looks like? She has suddenly become so pretty and her pouty look is so cute!

I need to pinch her ass later. Maybe she will pout some more?

Hehe. Yep. That's what I need to do.

But later. For now... I think I'm just going to enjoy this a little more.

...

...

"Woah! My-- Your thoughts... What the hell just happened?"

"I felt your thoughts." I-- No, he says.

"Me too... Is that how you see Dawn all the time?"

"W-what?" Dawn stammers out after being called out.

She still looks prettier than usual. "What's the matter Dawn?"

"Nothing? Why are you both looking at me like that?"

I can see Swole move to tower above her and sneaking my-- his hand around her waist and then...

"Ouch!"

He pinched Dawn and now she's completely distracted, her ass is left entirely unprotected!

"Ouch! Zoey!? You too? Stop it, both of you!"

Hehe. No way.

"Hehe. No way." He says.

That's so bizarre. Is that what he meant with soulmates? I don't feel different at all but I don't remember ever having these kinds of thoughts before.

"Did you hear me Zoey?"

"Huh? Uhm, no. What did you say, Swole?"

"Oh no, you infected her with your distractedness. I'm so sorry, Zoey..."

"Haha, no he didn't. It was just regular distractedness. Now, what did you ask me, Swole?"

"I asked if you can use aura now? Just close your eyes and try to get that feeling from before again."

I do as told and close my eyes. The song Dawn put on has finished at some point so all that is left is the feeling of wind on my skin.

"Just let your mind wander. You need to be relaxed and focused." He instructs me and I can feel his hand on my shoulder and his warm breath mixing with the cold breeze.

His hands feel amazing right now and I think I know what feeling I'm supposed to be searching for. There is a... sense. It's like I can tell exactly where he is. And I can tell that Misdreavus is happily napping inside of my shadow.

And the other people. Dawn and Barry, I assume. It's like I'm looking through opaque glass, or like that one time, when I tried to spy on Dawn through the shower-curtain.

Back then, I didn't really think of anything beyond curiosity but now... I think he rubbed off more on me than I expected.

"Do you feel it?"

"Yes... This is so cool."

There is something like a connection between him and me. As well as between me and my pokemon. Even the ones in their pokeballs.

Is that the 'bond' between a trainer and their pokemon? I always thought that was metaphorical.

It's like a super power! I can tell where everyone is, even with my eyes closed!

"Good job. Now you just need to continue doing this every day and it will train your aura." He says and I open my eyes back up.

Only to be greeted by my boyfriend's kissable face right in front of me and Dawn's cute-annoyed face next to his.

My boyfriend is so cool. I will need to thank him properly for that later on our date.

"Hehe. Thanks, in advance."

... Did he just read my mind?

---

We watched the sky a bit more. Every once in a while I closed my eyes and trained my aura some more. The battle of Ash versus the random trainers must have finished a long time ago.

Swole snuck his arm around my waist at some point.

I close my eyes again and concentrate.

Wait, what is that? It's like a twinkling star above us?

Suddenly the ground started shaking uncontrollably, Swole kept hold of me and pulled me away from the railing. I stumble and fall to the ground.

The sound of metal clanging against metal rings out somewhere behind us.

... As quickly as it started, it ended. My eyes have opened again but I couldn't see anything being wrong anymore.

"Did you see that shimmer!?" Dawn shouts a question, she's getting back up from the ground.

"I didn't. I had my eyes closed."

"I did? What the hell was that?" Swole says as he helps me to my feet.

Another annoyed look is on Dawn's face. "No idea, but at least the earthquake wasn't as bad as the last."

She must be jealous because she got off the ground too quickly and didn't wait for him to pull us up. Cute.

"We should get down quickly." Swole suggests. "We don't know if the tower was damaged by that earthquake."

He's right.

... So we began the long descent down the stairs.

Halfway down, Swole noticed Dawn's heavy breathing and offered to carry her the rest of the way. She didn't want to seem weaker than me, so she declined.

Cute. But sometimes she really is her own worst enemy.

I have this weird urge to offer to carry her too. And her panting is oddly arousing. I should get her to work out with me sometime. A lot about her has become oddly arousing.

Anyway, as the staircase leads back into the building, I notice a mosaic on the floor. It's so large that I didn't realize it was there until we got a bird's eye view on it.

It depicts around a dozen Celebi around a large tree. From left to right, the tree is in all the phases of spring, summer, fall and winter. The background is daylight on the left and transitions to a starry night on the right.

Clearly more symbolism for space and time but - ironically - we don't have the time to enjoy the art.

Panicked voices reach us from outside the towers. Much louder and distressed than I would have expected from a second, weaker earthquake just 2 days after the last.

As we exit the towers and approach the people shouting out orders, the reason becomes obvious. Bodies of humans and pokemon alike litter the ground and every wall surrounding the plaza was pockmarked from some kind of attack.

Alice can be seen giving people first aid while Brock fusses over Sudowoodo.

That scientist guy joined them at some point and he is once again tipping away on his laptop.

"Where is Ash?" I ask, not seeing him anywhere. His Buizel is on the floor next to Sudowoodo.

Brock heard me. "Ash ran after Darkrai together with Baron Alberto."

"Darkrai did this?" Swole asks.

"Yes. Right after the shimmer, Darkrai appeared. He ordered everyone to leave but then fought with Lickilicky. A lot of people were hit in the crossfire."

"Oh no!"

"We already notified Nurse Joy and she is on the way with stretchers."

"Alberto has also notified the pokemon rangers." Alice informs. "Darkrai needs to be stopped. He can't just attack everybody!"

This is really bad. Terrible even! At this rate, they might cancel the contest... Or worse, we might have to call off our date!

"This is really bad. Terrible even!" Swole says my thoughts out loud. "Guys? Maybe we should leave? This is all too foreboding for my taste."

"But we need to help these people." Barry replies.

"And what about the contest? It's tomorrow!" Dawn whines.

"And don't forget our date." I added. Dawn became annoyed after hearing me say that. I should tease her about it when I find the time.

Swole begins to mumble to himself. "Damn it. They are right..." And he looks around at the carnage surrounding us. "This sucks... Alright, we're helping these people and pokemon into the pokemon center. Then we have our date and then we sleep outside the town for the night and return for the contest tomorrow. Is that a good enough compromise?"

"... Sure." I will miss the luxury of the hostel but Darkrai is becoming rather unhinged.

Dozens of victims...

For the next half an hour or so, we helped them out.

In total, we moved 17 humans and 12 pokemon to the pokemon center. Most don't even look like trainers or trained pokemon. They are just passers-by and their pets who wanted to enjoy the day.

"Are you sure you don't want to cancel the date? I have a really bad feeling about this situation." Swole asks.

I understand him. But I can't help it.

"But the weather is so perfect today! We're having the warmest weather on record, the bluest skies and... Dawn got her perfect date already. I want it too."

Even though I find Dawn's jealousy cute and endearing, I can't help but feel the same when she makes more real progress than me.

"Can you blame me for it?" I ask after he didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"Sigh-- I mean, good grief." He messed up his catchphrase. "Alright. If something bad happens, I'll blame you though. But! If it really does happen, then we can still have our perfect date on another day. Deal?"

"Haha. Ya got yourself a deal! I'll be at fault." I stretched out my hand to shake on that but then I just kept hold of it and started dragging him out of the pokemon center instead.

The rest of the day is going to be perfect! Nothing will ruin it!

---

I dragged him with me. Down the first street that we hadn't seen on Alice's tour before.

Like every other part of the town, the white facades of the buildings were clean, the air was fresh and the trees of the allée provided nice shade for tourists and locals alike.

The earthquake and flashing lights had kind of ruined the mood. I needed to do something to change it up!

So I pulled him into the first clothing store I saw.

Big mistake.

It was a lingerie shop! The only stuff I was able to show off was nightwear. And even that was extremely embarrassing!

It's one thing to be dressed naughtily over a phone call, but it's completely different to be seen like that in real life!

Oh no! Wasn't I dressed in only my underwear when I was drunk!?

"Are you alright?"

"Hieep! -- I mean, yes... Why?"

"You look a little flustered."

Of course I'm flustered! You're looking at me while I'm wearing a transparent nightgown! And underwear!

"No I'm not. It's just too warm in here." I bring myself to do one of the poses my oldest sister taught me. "Don't you think it's getting a little hot?"

His Adam's apple moves up and down and his face finally grows a blush. He acted all cool the whole time but I finally got him.

"Y-yes."

"In that case, time to wrap this up and to get out of the heat, right?"

Hahaha! The color drains from his face. The disappointment! So funny!

I go back into the changing stall and-- Actually, I take another look at myself in the mirror.

Dang, I'm looking sexy! It's a wonder he didn't get a nosebleed!

I don't even wear my sexiest underwear today but I still look like a bombshell. Maybe that's why I didn't cause any accidents... I will need to prepare better next time.

Definitely gonna buy that nightgown. And some of the lingerie I will show off at some point in the future.

I put it all in a shopping bag so Swole can't see what I get in the end. Gotta keep a little bit of mystery.

Then I finally get dressed-- Actually, I touch my own boobs. They look so nice today. Even all wrapped up in their bra. Something is weird with me now. I don't think boobs have ever looked so appealing before.

I wish I had bigger breasts. Like Dawn. Or Akari. Or Alice. Or Jessie... At least I have a six-pack. But I've gotten a little bit of a tan-line... "Swole? Do you think I should get a tan at some point?"

The curtain rustles. He spied on me.

"I'm not really an expert on that sort of stuff." He replies as if nothing is wrong. "I think you'd look great either way."

A non-answer. Big sis Emily said this means he is afraid of giving a wrong answer. "There is no right or wrong answer. I'm just asking what 'cha think would look better on me."

"I'm... usually a fan of pale skin, but I'm sure a tan would suit you."

So... Now I'm not sure. That's fine too. I can't do a lot to change the outcome either way. Not a lot of days in the year to get a tan in Sinnoh. Maybe after this season we could visit Alola?

10 years to visit the places in the world I wanted to see.

Now I get dressed. And I do not try to look at my panties. The slightly damp panties.

Did I get aroused? From what? Watching myself? Or from being spied on? I should be more mad about it but he is my soulmate... Mom is going to kill me when she finds out.

I leave the stall and see him standing around in a suspiciously casual manner. His pokemon are trying to sell him out by making all sorts of gestures.

"Pervert."

His eyes widen and they scream at me, 'how did you know?!'.

"Pervert? Me? No way. There is not a single perverted thought in my mind. Do you want to grab some ice next door?"

"Haha, sure. Let me just pay for this and then we can head over."

"Nuh uh. I invited you to the date, so I'm paying."

Oh... Oh, wow! I can't wait until we go to Snowpoint City! My sisters are going to be sooo jealous when I can show off my boyfriend!

"Thanks!"

Now I need to think of a really good reward for the end of the date. What am I going to do!? We had already kissed before, so that's off the table as a reward.

Same for my butt and breasts. I stopped him from touching too much when we were in Jubilife City, but Dawn... I'm pretty sure she let him touch her already. Otherwise he wouldn't dare to just slap my ass or honk my boobs!

Or was it Akari who let him? ... No way. It must have been Dawn. That sneaky minx!

In that case, he will get to touch below my... bra. Anything less and I'm stingy or ungrateful and anything more and I'd look like a slut.

More than now. I really shouldn't have drunk so much back then.

While I was busy with the thoughts in my head, the cashier rang up my order and Swole paid for it. I didn't even notice leaving the store and entering the small ice cream shop next door.

It's one of these tiny, dingy, ugly shops where you just know the quality is going to be superb. And today it is almost 20°C. Insanely hot Sinnoh weather. The ice cream is really gonna hit the spot!

I get a cone with strawberry flavor to share with Misdreavus and release Glameow and Burmy so they can have their own. 

Swole ends up with some kind of abhorrent amalgamation of different flavors but it's self-explanatory when he lets his pokemon eat from it.

The store bell over the entrance rings out when we exit the building. The ice cream tastes sooo good!

"Zoey?"

"Yes, darling?" Gotta start laying it on thick after what he did today.

"How many clouds did you see today?"

That's a weird thing to ask. "Like 1 or 2? At most. Didn't really count."

Why would he even ask that-- Oh. I see why. "Huh. It's cloudy."

"Indeed."

Thick, gray clouds cover the whole sky. The most ominous cloud covering I have ever seen.

"No signal. Where are Dawn and the others?"

He's checking his phone and seems calm but somehow, I can tell that he is rapidly growing more and more panicked. Just because of some clouds?

"I think they are all hanging out near the festival? Either there or in the pokemon center."

"Right." He says. "I'm sorry, Zoey. But it looks like we're having our perfect date some other time. I'm not trusting these clouds and I can't get rid of this bad feeling either. Let's go."

Darn. I failed. Is it because of my boobs? Am I not enough-- No. No way. That kind of defeatist mindset shall take no root in my head!

I'm an optimist. And I will stay optimistic until the day I die!

The universe won't break. We will all get to grow old together. And he didn't lose interest in me!

Right. He's just a permanent worry-wart and that's why it was so difficult to fluster him.

In the end, I put on a smile - filled with all the hopes and dreams I can muster - before I nod and follow.

But with the end of the date, I will need to find another opportunity to reward him. Gulp... I-I guess I will visit him in his tent tonight.

---

We didn't find Dawn, Barry, Ash or Brock anywhere in the festival streets but we had to go through there to get to the pokemon center either way. And by the time I remembered my ice cream cone, it had already begun dripping all over my hand.

After ignoring a hallucination at the edge of my vision, I quickly ate the ice which prompted my pokemon to do the same and we continued our search.

We find Dawn at the entrance of the pokemon center where she has been waiting for us. 

"Guys!" She begins running to close the distance between us. Prinplup and Mawile lag behind her.

"Finally, you're here." She says after giving Swole a brief hug. "The others have gone ahead, everyone seems to be leaving the town."

"What? Why?" Swole is perplexed. "I mean, I came to pick you up to leave town but only because of a hunch. What do they know that I don't know?"

"I don't know either, there was a commotion and the others went to investigate. I stayed behind to wait for you. And I want to leave the town too!" Her skin pales a little. "I think I saw a ghost!"

"A ghost?"

"Yes! A ghost-Tropius flew through the walls!"

... That's what I saw. We should really leave. The stress is turning us insane.

"Perfect! Everyone agrees then. We're leaving." Swole takes off at a brisk pace and Dawn and I hurry to keep up. But he slows down slightly as soon as he sees us struggling with long gait.

The main street has become rather busy. Everyone is out of their homes, discussing with each other what is going on. The tension is palpable. And their discussions are just further fueling the panic with baseless rumors.

At the end of the road, near the bridge leading out of town are all the other pokemon trainers who helped us after Darkrai attacked.

Thick fog prevents anyone from seeing more than a few meters across the bridge.

"Staravia use Defog!" Barry's voice can be heard across the gathering of pokemon trainers.

"Swole, what's going on?" I ask but he just shrugs his shoulders before clearing a path for us to get to the front.

Everyone is here. Barry, Ash, Brock, Alice and even scientist-guy - Tonio I think - and ... Baron Alberto's Lickilicky? His trainer is curiously absent.

"Guys, what's going on?"

Barry startles after suddenly being talked to and Brock answers in his stead. "Some people said they couldn't leave the town."

"And Defog isn't working!" Barry complains. 

Wait, Defog doesn't work? It's supposed to clear up fog. It's basically the only thing the move is supposed to be doing and it doesn't work?

"That's impossible." Even Dawn knows that!

"What happens if you go through it?"

"We don't know." Brock replies. "We just arrived here a few minutes ago."

"I'm just gonna do it."

Ash said what?

"Don't, you idiot." Swole physically holds him back from rushing head first into the thickest fog I've ever seen.

I'm pretty sure he would get lost in it even if it's just a straight line from here to the other side.

"Take this with you first." He takes a rope and quickly binds it around Ash's stomach. "Just give the rope a few tugs and we will try to pull you back out."

"Alright. Thanks." Ash replies and hands over Pikachu before he gets going. But this time he is a lot more hesitant. 

He carefully walks into the fog.

"This reminds me of The Mist." Barry comments.

"The movie or the show?"

"The movie of course. The show sucked." He's right but I would really rather not be reminded of that movie right now.

Ash's silhouette becomes less visible and quickly disappears completely in the fog. The rope is stretched taut but he makes no motions to get pulled back.

Suddenly the silhouette reappears and then Ash returns. His eyes fixed in horror at the rope.

"How is that possible?! I walked in a straight line!"

The rope runs parallel to itself.

"Hold on Ash. Don't get any closer." Swole commands.

"W-what? Why?"

"Pikachu... Is that your trainer?"

"Pika!"

"Alright. Sorry about that Ash... Just had to make sure you're the same guy we sent through there."

... Arceus... That's a creepy thought.

"Dude. That's creepy." Barry agrees with me.

"Would have been a lot more creepy if we had just let fake-Ash back in."

A shiver runs over my spine at that thought.

"Bro! Stop it!"

"Incredible." Tonio has begun fussing over the rope while it's still attached to Ash. "Absolutely astonishing! A straight line that runs parallel to itself!"

"Impossible." I mumble a little too loud.

"Absolutely not. Albert Geodude already predicted it in his theory of relativity. Space can be bent and-- And! That might be the answer I have been looking for all this time! All these weird phenomenons all over town came from space itself being twisted and bent out of shape!"

"And what about the dead plants? And the pool of water? How can space affect the water so much?" Swole asks.

"You're right. Space alone can't do that... It's not just space... It's not just space! It's space-time! That's it! Time too was bent or stretched and so the water dried up immediately compared to our normal time. That should be the final part I needed to run my model-- You're a genius! Thank you so much!"

But he didn't even do anything...

"Heh. No problem, Tonio. But why would Darkrai do that?"

Baron Alberto's Lickilicky literally pushes himself into the conversation by walking past Swole and Tonio and turning to face the crowd. "The why does not matter. What matters is that Darkrai needs to stop!"

... Wait what?! "Lickilicky can talk!?"

"No! It is I, Baron Alberto! Darkrai put Lickilicky to sleep and now, for some reason, I look like him!"

... So he's Baron Lickilicky. I get it now: Nothing makes sense anymore.

"Everyone! Follow me! We will put a stop to Darkrai's evil deeds together! Huzzah!" 

Baron Lickilicky lets out his battle cry and the trainers around us follow up with their own. "Huzzah!"

For some of them, greed is almost literally visible in their eyes. They are opportunistic and probably hope to be the one who manages to capture and then eventually tame Darkrai.

But Swole remains standing. He doesn't move a muscle and I decide to stay with him.

"Maybe the question shouldn't be why..." He muses to himself. "But how? How could Darkrai affect space and time?"

"Well, pokemon have all sorts of weird powers, don't they?" I assume this is just one of them.

"But it doesn't match Darkrai's theme. He's the pokemon of nightmares and unless we are asleep right now... Could we be asleep? How would we know?"

I pinch his ass.

"Ow! Alright. We aren't asleep. In that case, it must be some other pokemon!"

"I agree with your assessment, ... You." Tonio says.

"His name is Swole." It's really not that hard to remember.

"Right. Sorry... As I was trying to say, I don't believe Darkrai is evil at all. When... When Alice and I were children, we once played in the public garden. And one day, Alice slipped up and fell off a cliff. I couldn't do anything but watch her fall..."

"But it was you who saved me that day." Alice denies his story. "I remember it like yesterday. My foot slipped, I fell and the next moment, you were there and held me."

"That's... not quite right. It was Darkrai who saved you... I--... You simply passed out and woke up once I reached you at the bottom of the cliff."

"I thought..." A look appears on her face. One that I have seen on my sister Jessica's face many times before.

"Can we not talk about your childhood trauma right now?" Swole suggests with a hint of stress clearly audible in his voice. "We need to figure out what's really causing this and how to stop it."

"You're correct." Tonio says. "And I believe I might have an answer to the who. Initially I had assumed it was just something that Darkrai caused but come look at this!"

He turns around his laptop for everyone to see. It's a grainy video that shows the top of the Space-Time Towers. Suddenly the sky begins to shimmer and shine in all colors and the camera begins to shake.

"There. Did you see it?"

"... Nope?"

"Wait, let me zoom in and enhance it." He fiddles around with the laptop. "... Scale by 3... duplicate the pixels... interpolate... activate hyper RAM... speed set to single frame... and here!"

Out of nowhere, a massive, transparent pokemon appears above the towers and just a fraction of a second later, it can't be seen anymore because of the bright light show that seemingly had this pokemon as the source.

"What the hell?"

"It's the pokemon from my nightmare!"

"Ash, did Darkrai try to show you a vision of that pokemon?"

It must be. Nothing else really makes sense. And that pokemon... it does look rather scary. Just how large is it? It looks to be as large as a house.

Is it some kind of legendary pokemon that was never seen before?

"In that case..." Swole begins. "Since Darkrai wanted to help us, can we expect his help when we go and fight that pokemon?"

When we go... and... do... WHAT?!

"Nuh uh." Dawn has a healthy sense of self preservation too. "There is no way we can fight that thing. Have you forgotten about Regice? We could barely scratch it. And that thing is huge! And have you seen how mean it looks?!"

"You don't know how mean it looks. The face isn't really visible. But we don't have a choice. We're stuck in this town and that's the cause of it."

That's scary.

---

No, no, nonono! That's not just scary, that's impossible!

Looking at it from the plaza, it can be seen, placed right between the towers. Barely visible but enormous! It's just floating up there, cowering inside some kind of creepy shell. Menacingly.

"Yeah..." None of Swole's earlier bravado is left. "Nope. We're not doing that. It looked so much smaller on the video. There is no way we can take it."

"That's what she said." It just slipped out! I didn't want to say that! "I mean, uh... Uh... Never mind. I got nothing. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, Zoey." Dawn replies. "It was funny. But damn, that thing is huge!"

"That's what she said." Darn it! I can't keep it in!

"Okay. You can stop now."

Actually, maybe I shouldn't. It's a good catchphrase. If everyone else gets one, maybe I should too!

But for now, we should stay on topic. "If we can't fight it, how will we get out of the town?"

No response.

Just silence for like a minute. Only some distant sounds of battle. Probably Darkrai against the other trainers.

None of those trainers even know that this thing looms over our heads this very moment.

... And it seems like we have no clue how to handle it either.

"Swole?"

"I'm thinking..."

"..."

"It seems like fighting is the only option... Why is it always like that? There seems to always be just one way forward but it always sucks. There must be something else we could do."

But what else could there be? Talking with it? ... "What if we tried talking with ... her? She's still a pokemon, right? Maybe we can reason with her?"

It should honestly have been our first thought in the first place. Are we barbarians or something?

"... Good idea! We can do that before resorting to violence. But I don't think waking her up in the first place is a smart choice."

If we wake her up, she might see us as enemies in a territorial dispute.

We need something else.

After a while, Tonio is the next to speak. "Hey, when did the ghosts first start appearing?"

Just as he asked this, Ash's ghostly Buizel floats through the air from one side of the plaza to the next. Seemingly searching for something or someone.

The next moment, he disappears. Simply gone.

And the distant commotion has also ended.

"Was it before or after these clouds appeared?"

"After, for me." This, ghost-Tropius, and Baron Lickilicky are all the instances I saw.

"Me too." Barry agrees. "We were in the pokemon center when I saw the first ghost, and once we looked outside, there were clouds everywhere."

Everyone else shares similar stories.

"Hum. I have a hypothesis that could explain why we are seeing ghosts. But quite frankly, it's a ridiculous thought and simply insane."

"What is it?"

"You see," He shows a bunch of gibberish on his computer. "At the time of the cloud's appearance, gravity has slightly changed. Just by a few centimeters per second but look at this!"

His finger points out a specific part of the gibberish. "This is the graviton count in the local area. It dropped immensely. If this isn't a fault in the measuring devices, then this means the gravitational constant has changed."

No idea what that means.

"Wait," Swole seems to understand it somehow. "But it's a constant. Meaning, it can never change."

"Exactly! The only reasonable, but still crazy, explanation is that we aren't in our universe anymore! The laws of reality have changed and so, when Darkrai's nightmares became fixed in this unstable space, they acquired a material form!"

That's insane. But why did the ghost disappear? Did Darkrai lose?

Suddenly the temperature drops. Light fades away and fear takes root in my heart. I take hold of my boyfriend's hand for comfort.

LEAVE THIS PLACE! PALKIA!

There is Darkrai! He stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the plaza, and now looks up at that pokemon, Palkia!

His deep voice reverberates across my bones and a chilling feeling chips away the happiness in my heart at the same time.

Palkia just barely moves inside her transparent shell. It looked as if she saw Darkrai but immediately dismissed him and went back to sleeping.

"You don't think Darkrai is going to attack, right?" I ask.

Swole's eyes widen and everyone else tenses up as well.

And then it happens. Darkrai shoots a barrage of black orbs.

"Shit."

Swole begins pulling me and Dawn by our hands. "We need to take cover!"

But just moments before Darkrai's attack hits Palkia, a shockwave rushes out and knocks us over. The orbs flung all over the place and the clouds dispersed rapidly at the same time.

"What the fuck, dude!" Barry is on the ground too. Not even Swole managed to keep his footing because of the blast. "What the fuck is that!?"

With the clouds gone, the sky becomes visible again... If it can still be called the sky. 

Galaxies, storms, lighting, other worlds, painted all across the sky. From horizon to horizon, there is everything and anything. Past, present and future.

Awe inspiring and terrifying. Stars and black holes...

"We're really not in our universe anymore."

"T-this is the calamity my grandfather foretold!"

A blue star twinkles in the distance before rapidly growing larger--

It's coming at us! It's not a star! It's some kind of beam!

Glameow, Misdreavus and Burmy huddle around me and I hold on tightly to them.

Is this the end?

I don't want to die!

The beam impacts Palkia and her shell fractures, shatters and breaks. The beam then bends around Palkia and smashes into the town's center.

There is no explosion, no smoke, fire or any other sign of destruction coming from the place it hit.

But whatever it was, it was enough to get Palkia moving. She unfurls from her fetal position and assumes a battle stance.

She lets out a terrifying, deafening screech that sounds as if it comes from everywhere at once.

And then, another screech like a million fingernails running over a blackboard comes in reply from the direction of the beam.

The blue star turns out to be another pokemon and he is quickly approaching.

Swole pulls me up by my hand and we all rush back to the nearby pokemon center.

Just as the sliding door shuts close, the ground begins to shake in regular intervals and the air vibrates with tension and the noise of battle.

Lungs expanding come in short breaths. I have never been so scared in my life. I just want to go home!

His hand keeps hold of mine tightly.

This isn't like our usual adventures at all!

"We're going to get through this." He says. "We just need to think of a solution. Tonio, could you build a machine that can get us back to our world?"

"Pah! I'm smart, but I'm not Bill! I can't pull dimensional travel out of nowhere. It would take me days to build something like that!"

"Well, shit. Not sure if we have days." The earth quakes with his statement and plaster crumbles off the ceiling.

His presence is reassuring and I hold his hand even tighter. I'm sure Dawn is doing the same right now on his other side.

And I'm sure that he is going to save--