In the middle of the void of darkness, a lone figure stands under a single spotlight as she feebly clutches the gleaming golden trophy in her small hands. She lifts up her head to smile at an audience who's not even there. The single ray of light shuts off suddenly, enveloping her entire being into darkness.
Cold.
Lonely.
Muffled voices grow louder and louder, clearer and coherent. Filling the empty dark void with a cacophony of the same demeaning phrases that repeat like a broken record. The girl shivers from the darkness. She falls to her knees, as if being weighed down by the words themselves.
"You cheated."
"You tricked opponents into feeling sorry for you."
"You didn't deserve to win."
A tear falls. Then two. Until her eyes are blurred and overflowed with tears.
Through the sea of self-deprecation that drowns her mind, she weakly reaches out into the darkness and says,
"Help me."
________________________________________________________________________________
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
The girl in the dream jolts up awake, older now, her heart and mind racing from the adrenaline of abruptly being pulled from her nightmare. Her skin feels hot from the warm summer air that breezed inside of her room from an open window, but at the same time feels cold from the lingering darkness that clings to her body, refusing to let go. She shivers. Her sleepy cobalt blue eyes drift around her room, as if confirming to herself of the present and not of the past that creeps into her dreams every now and again.
Just to be sure, she pushes the covers off of her and wanders over to her blue messenger bag to pull out her wallet and Trainer ID.
Name: Juliet
Birthday: June 15
Home Region: Hoenn – Lilycove City
That was enough for her. She lets out a sigh of relief and turns her head to the wide mirror in the bathroom. She tiredly regarded her medium length wavy black hair with various stray locks sticking up in random places, the subtle bags under her eyes, and the baggy Mudkip shirt she wore over shorts that didn't match.
"Good morning," Juliet greets her reflection. Something comes up from behind her and nudges his head against her ankle. She looks down to see her Shiny Trapinch groggily nuzzling his head against her legs, silently requesting mutual affection. Her smile is gentle as she scoops up the baby Ant Pit Pokemon in her arms and plants a soft kiss on his head. Seeing her beloved pet Trapinch was enough to make her forget the dream she had.
"'Morning to you too, Pistachio. I have to get ready for work so be good while I'm gone, OK?" She told him gently. Pistachio nods obediently and squirms out of her arms to waddle back to his bed.
As she went through her usual morning routine, her Rotom phone hovered in front of her to deliver her morning updates that mainly consisted of the weather, missed calls or new texts, and the spawns of Pokemon that were likely to appear in the Wild Area via Power Spots.
"Rotom, are there any strong Raids that are likely to appear today?"
"Bzzzt! There is likely going to be a Dragapult Raid in Axew's Eye. But, it will be raining."
YOU ARE READING
The Ties that Bind
AdventureA sport that exemplified teamwork to take down the Dynamax Pokemon lurking in the depths of Power Spots scattered throughout the Wild Area - these were Max Raid Battles. A team by the name of Raid Prism, one of the popular teams to kick off the boom...
