Pokemon: Dreams Come True

Chapter 17: The Thing I Wanted To Forget

My dream was a terrifying one. It was a memory that I'd forgotten long ago, playing like a movie that I could barely remember.

It was when I was eight-years-old. I was stuck in an alleyway in Celestic Town, which is located in Sinnoh. It is also my hometown.

It was night, where impenetrable and eternal darkness engulfed everything in its wake, endless dusk preventing me from discerning anything. The only thing I could see was the pair of glowing crimson eyes boring into me like bloody lances. I was frozen in horror, my entire body shaking as the look in its eyes caused me to shudder. My eight-year-old self could not handle it; I began to weep in terror.

"D-don't hurt me... please..." I pleaded, closing my eyes as tears gushed out of me in sorrowful waves.

The giant creature had begun to follow me, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. I could not glean where it came from—its presence appeared like a shock, catching me off guard. With trepidation, I began to run, assuming that it was some rampaging pokemon. Before long, it cornered me into the alley.

Its glowing eyes did not blink, instead it continued to stare at me with an inscrutable gaze—one that was both otherworldly and terrifying. Its ethereal eyes were like crimson stars, burning me by merely looking at me. Time seemed to stretch and divide until eternity overtook it, a chill sweeping through the air as everything seemed to freeze in this creature's overwhelming presence.

No thought came to me but the premonition that I was going to die there. There would be no hope for me. Nothing would save me. It was just me and the malevolent force standing before me, its presence engulfing my very soul in a chilling embrace. Its void was like a different world—all that existed were the horrors and nightmares that emanated from those dark, blood-like eyes, giving me visions of men and women brought to their ruin by their dark ambitions. The corruption that permeated through their being brought forth a path of utter desolation.

Not even time or space mattered in this creature's presence, causing infinity to be in my reach, destroying my mortality as my mind tried to decipher what was being shown. My body felt like it being ripped apart, my soul burning with unending agony.

Despair filled me completely, accepting the slow, painful death. I closed my eyes and gave up, when another presence appeared before me.

Tentatively opening my eyes, a large shadow loomed over me. A faint ray of moonlight pierced through the two darknesses, giving me a view of the creature before me.

Its body was blood red and black, patterns of blood and fire decorating it. It was large and bipedal, and it had six arms. Its dark ponytail was held by two rings. It had a dark beard on its chin. Its horns were straight and had hair around their bases, and each horn had three gold rings; two around the base and one in the middle. Its body was round and its arms were disconnected from its body. 

Chills once again swept through me, resurfacing the tangible fear I'd felt before. But then a shadow wrapped around me, giving me a strange sense of comfort. With trepidation, I looked backward, facing the new presence that appeared before me.

All I could make out was a faint silhouette of a large, draconic body. Its long body had three objects resembling rings looped around it. Its head had a crown-like object on top of it, with two horns swept to the sides. It had two large, ghostly wings with spikes that resembled claws. The silhouette had glowing red lights where the eyes should be, but it wasn't looking at me, it was looking at the other pokemon. Shadows warped around it like a night of endless nightmares.

With a roar, the pokemon who attacked me opened its mouth, releasing a flurry of dark orbs that shot toward me with a powerful, rumbling hum.

But before it could reach me, the shadows surrounding me blocked the attack, making the air ring with a harmless clang.

Was it... protecting me?

With a wide eyed look and my mouth open with awe, I looked at the shadowy pokemon, saying: "What... are you?"

Its eye-like apparitions looked at me, and it must have been my imagination, because it gave me a fond-looking expression. It then focused on the other pokemon again, shadows engulfing it. Countless cracks appeared into the air, ripping what seemed like the fabric of reality, before being sucked into the tear. The cracks began to fill themselves up again. For a moment, I thought that the pokemon had abandoned me, but then a loud sound reminiscent of shattered glass sounded in front of me.

Where the other pokemon was, another myriad of cracks appeared in front of it, and out came the shadowy pokemon once more, bursting out of the hole, striking the red pokemon with a mass of deadly shadows.

A flash of bright light filled my vision as the attack connected, forcing me to avert my eyes. After what felt like an eternity, it felt like it was safe for me to open my eyes again. When I did, I looked around in confusion as I realized that the two pokemon weren't there anymore—not even a trace of them remained.

"W-what..." I was shaking with fear. Had I imagined that? Hot rivulets of tears flowed from my cheeks, my body feeling both feverish and cold at the same time. "What is happening to me?"

That experience had shaken me, making my paranoia shoot up in intensity. When I got home, my parents were really concerned, questioning why I came home so late. With nigh-incoherent words, I explained to them what had occurred during my encounter with those two enigmatic pokemon.

When I was finished, the two exchanged thoughtful looks, a telltale sign that they had an idea as to what I was talking about. This silent conversation lasted about a second. My parents instantly assumed reassuring expressions and began to insist that I was tired, or maybe I was just seeing things, and many other excuses.

But I knew better: I hadn't imagined that. That prospect terrified me even more, scaring me to the point where I forced myself to forget that remembrance, figuring that it was better to live in ignorance than in fear.

I had forgotten about the terror that had occurred that day. But my dream forced the memory back into my head.

I woke up, cold sweat prickling on my head. My nap had been ruined.

But I now remember the time when the shadows had helped me. I had no clue who those two pokemon were.

But I had a feeling I would find out one day.

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Vali's dreams reveal a terrifying recollection, giving us a glimpse of two strange pokemon he saw before, one being familiar, and the other being a mystery. What will come of this? What does this mean for our hero's future? Will he continue to live in fear, or will he surpass his terror and live to fight a new day?

Find out, as the journey continues.