Pokemon Heart and Mind: The Persici Prequel

Chapter Four: That's Rather Nightmarish

Chapter Four

That's Rather Nightmarish

Songs:

Nightingale, By Demi Lovato

Arms, by Christina Perri

They went to bed shortly after getting back to the house. Serena fell asleep nearly as soon as her head hit the pillow around 11:30 pm. Her Pokemon curled up around her, and she drifted off comfortably.

But her mind was anything but comfortable.

She found herself standing in the dark, empty building of the Sinnoh Grand Festival, where the battles and performances took place. She observed everything around her. She looked down, seeing the ribbon in her hands that she had won. All of the sudden, the colors began to fade, the gold tarnishing, and it finally turned to dust in her gloved hands.

The dress she wore was similar to the one she wore in her final battle against Lennon. However, it was black, and the skirt was hanging in tatters. Nearby, was a floating mirror, and when she saw herself, she gasped. Her makeup was dark and smudged, and her hair tangled and wild. She looked like death warmed over, joy forgotten.

Then, a figure materialized behind her in the mirror. Lennon, the guy she competed against in Sinnoh. His eyes glinted, and he smirked at her. That smirk always unnerved her. Before she could say or do anything, his arms reached around her, and he clasped a hand over her mouth.

She began to scream and thrash, trying anything she could to get away from him. Nothing worked. She knew it was over.

As she thrashed, she heard a familiar voice come out from somewhere, calling her out.

"Serena! Serena! You're okay! Wake up!"

Her eyes shot open, and she looked up. The lamp had been turned on, and there was a figure standing over her. Her eyes focused and adjusted, and she realized it was Ash. His eyes were looking down at her with concern, his hands on her shoulders. "You're safe, I promise. You were dreaming."

Serena sat up, and looked around. Her Pokemon too, were looking at her worriedly. She sucked in a sharp breath, and then turned back to Ash. Her hands were shaking, almost uncontrollably. "I-I'm sorry. I had a really bad nightmare."

Ash squeezed her shoulders, his face studying her with concern. Then his face changed as he seemed to get an idea. "Hey, I'll be right back. Give me a few minutes, okay?"

Serena nodded, putting her hand over her chest. Her heart was beating wildly. Of all the places to have the nightmare, it had to be at Ash's home. However, he woke her up just in time. She glanced over at the clock. It was three am. That was usually when the dream occurred. Her Pokemon all snuggled up tightly to her, trying to help comfort her. They didn't exactly understand, except for Delphox, why she was having the nightmares, but they wanted to do anything they possibly could. Pikachu too, had stayed there in the room while Ash had left.

A few minutes later, Ash came back up the stairs carrying a tray. On it were two cups of warmed MooMoo milk, and some of her macarons. He set it on the bedside table, and handed her a cup, as well as a macaron.

He sat down on the side of the bed, and took his glass and a macaron as well. "When I was little, I would get really bad nightmares sometimes. When that would happen, Mom would bring me warm milk as well as a cookie to help me calm down. One of the worst dreams I had was when a Gyrados was chasing me down and bit off my head. I was running around headless." Ash laughed nervously.

Serena listened, and took a sip of her milk. As soon as he described the dream, she laughed, and milk squirted out of her nose. It got all over her face and Pajama top. Her nostrils burned. Her eyes widened, her cheeks puffed out, and she began fanning her face with free hand to somehow ease the burn in her face.