Harmonia | Pokémon Fanfiction

14 | Stabbing The Painting

Music in Media: The Picture of Dorian Gray (2009) Soundtrack

13 January, Thursday, 8 a.m. | Winter

Breakfast was a tea party, not only because they all had tea to go with their jam and bread, but also because Professor Juniper desired the newest 'tea' to be spilt. Cheren bore dagger-sharp stares at Fennel and Amanita for teaching her slang.

"Don't be a basic bitch about it, Cheren!" Professor Juniper nudged him, then, with a resigned sigh, clasped her hands together and brought out a smile. "Alrighty, sistas, Imma spill the damn tea! Where Pokémon came from and where they're going... If we can learn that, I believe we can get along even better! But things haven't been great on this side of the region."

"Why not?" Icosa pouted in a bid to suppress his laughter. He was certain this woman sitting across him had changed overnight. She didn't talk like this when they met last night. Today, she was an exuberant baby ready to cry all the life's wonder out of her as if she had just come out of her momma's womb. Which wasn't too much of a hyperbole. She had tears in her eyes.

"Dude! Haven't you heard?" Professor Juniper slapped his hand and Icosa, who had been holding his sandwich, dropped it onto his plate. "All the Darmanitan in Unova, wild or captured, have gone into Zen Mode two weeks ago! I've received so many calls and emails about them. Even faxes! Oh Arceus, annoying faxes! And you know what I think? It's a defence mechanism against the music perversion!"

Music perversion. That was the first time any of them heard such a label. Rae thought it was strange that Professor Juniper said "two weeks" instead of "two days" or even "three days", but decided against telling her. It didn't seem to be an ordinary slip of the tongue. Something peculiar was going on here. And it had to do with the music perversion.

The woman rattled on about the Darmanitan species. They appeared at least 2,500 years ago and likely guarded the Relic Castle, a landmark near Castelia City. Darmanitan were special Pokémon with the hidden ability Zen Mode, which Professor Juniper theorised was reminiscent of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" and enlightenment. "It may have been a way of adapting to harsh conditions or even the music perversion! Are you thinking what I'm thinking, sistas? I think something similar might have occurred in ancient times. Not all Darmanitan are capable of Zen Mode nowadays, which makes this phenomena strange, stranger, strangest! But Dream Mist can unlock this hidden ability. Ability Capsules are created by condensing Dream Mist! I think-"

Fennel raised her hand to shut her friend up. "I think Rae doesn't know much about Dream Mist. Look at her befuddled expression."

"Befuddled!" Professor Juniper swatted her hand in the air and judged Rae. The poor girl was sweating beads. "You mean bamboozled! She looks like a hungry Pancham!"

That comparison wasn't too far off. Rae did gain dark circles from a lack of restful sleep.

"Dream Mist," said Fennel, cutting Professor Juniper's giggles, "is produced by Munna and Musharna, Pokémon native to Unova. I'm a researcher of dreams along with my little sister and for the past years we have found a place known as the Pokémon Dream World. It's a real place that can be accessed via the Entralink, located in the middle of Unova. No, it's probably the Entralink itself."

"That means Burgh came for a dream consultation," reasoned Icosa.

Fennel nodded, but expressed it's a private matter and she could not divulge anything.

"But the tea, Fennel!" Professor Juniper sipped her earl grey tea. "I'm sure we all want to know Burgh's tea! Don't we, sistas?"

Fennel rose from her seat. "Or maybe... What we want is..." She motioned for Amanita to scurry over to Professor Juniper's side and both sisters lifted her off the chair, causing her to shriek. "You should go home, Aurea. You must be drunk on tea. Come, we'll take you home."