Author's Notes:

Hello everyone!

This is a side-series to Moon on the Water. I use it to provide a little more backstory regarding the region my stories are set in, as well as a means to foreshadow some events much farther along in the story compared to what I've written so far. Unlike Moon on the Water, this story is interactive. The POV can read parts of your reviews and PMs and other discussion on this side-story, though you'll remain anonymous unless you request otherwise. So have fun with it! Anyways, I upload a chapter once every winter or if a really big life event happens where for some odd reason I feel I need to update another chapter. In addition, the latest chapter will generally provide what my upload schedule will be for the upcoming summer and what my summer goals will be. With all that said, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, just dream it.

Updated 3/19/17

Read after Chapter 17 of Moon on the Water

File 1: What's a 5820K?

What's rhyming internet! It's your man Drake! Wisdom from the Lake! For all of you, whether you know me from social media or simply came across this gem of an article, welcome! You're in for a real treat! Our hackers at Eon Undercover commenced Operation Time Blitz and managed to uncover a journal archive dated back approximately 200 years! It's aura-encrypted, which heavily suggests that the archive is from the founders. We actually intercepted the archive path from Black Lake, so yay for the genius cyberwarriors. But for those of you unfamiliar with our group, we are a counterstrike organization to Black Lake, a malicious group of genetically generated pokemon brought to reality by some rogue malamar. Black Lake has undergone several name changes over the years as a means of keeping themselves relevant in the news. As some of you already know and others might have guessed, their current operation is against the Lake Guardians. Right now we're in an intelligence race.

Anyways, speaking of lakes, we also uncovered something weird in the datastream that I'm hoping those of you across the shadow rift can help clarify. I'm assuming you guys know what HTML scripts are, right? Anyways, we found some which hint to some decision between Skylake and Haswell-E. Ultimately the final decision was 5820K. Do you guys know what any of this means? We are stumped beyond words.

Thanks to one of you across the shadow rift, we were able to crack one of the aura encryptions, so keep sending us more ideas. You guys are our secret weapon to this battle! Anyways, one of our hackers sent me the cracked data for historical analysis. I have yet to confirm the relationship between these characters and the ancestry. Mom is being difficult.

The database we recovered is called "The Visions" and the specific article appears to be a first draft by the author. I will update this post if we uncover any revised versions. So without further ado, here is the document:

Well, I know we all have been a bit traumatized by the dreams we've encountered during our special guests' stay. We all know something is running amuck, as if the rift-leak shenanigans weren't enough already! Anyways, allow me to be the first to document my personal encounter. (Beat you to it! Bre!)

I was lying there, in the apartment, watching as my trainer hammered away at the keyboard with some strange expression of epiphany on his face. For whatever reason, the architype of the setting appeared to be without the full collection of company. It was just Bre and I, and our trainer had never even met his rescuer. But such contradictions are the way of dreams. Anyways, I was lying there in the apartment bedroom on the half-torn bed, lazily watching his strange self-reactions to his stranger epiphany, as he would sit and stare at the screen for several minutes, before typing out words on his laptop. The document he was typing was called "Rides no one would ever ride". Apparently it was some idea for a social experiment for the non-savants across the rift where we were at. But that doesn't make any sense as in this particular vision he never had met the savants of our homeland. Aaarhhh! Contradictions!

He had two ideas in mind that he was documenting. The first was a rotor. No, not a rotom. He already had that one documented. This was a rotor, a ride that used friction and centripetal motion to defy gravity. Actually the concept used this really cool dance theme and was designed to feature mini-games, challenges, and plenty of interaction. But of course, there were the cannons to scare off all but the brave. Actually, the idea was probably his least ionizing, with the idea to aim low and light, and give the riders a choice to go all in. The second idea was more typical of him. A hostage rescue challenge complete with laser guns vs guns of blinding white that covered the arena and challengers. But even worse was the hostage torture stipulations. Obviously, the more intense the torture, the greater the challenge prize. Without going into details, I will simply give an example of what I believe to be the meaning of all of this. Imagine you have a large bucket filled with something sticky. Doesn't matter what. Just something you found in the refrigerator. Now imagine you taking that bucket, plopping it upside-down on some girl's head, and spinning it several times. They are gonna scream, right (and probably try to kill you with the nearest golf club and/or frying pan)? Well I've lived in this world long enough to know that there are no absolutes when it comes to humans, especially girls. No offense girls, but you confuse the heck out of us guys sometimes. But the point is, if there is no absolute, there must be an exception. What happens when that exception occurs? Just a sec…

SHUT UP BRE! These were for kids!

"…c…ld still be … … …fe… ….o never know!"

That's Effed up! Bre!

Anyways, enough cut-ins. The truth is we believe that rare exceptions are accidental aura triggers, which does have real applications. We actually have evidence of this with the Savants, but now we're trying to remove culture from the equation. Fortunately, our real-life methods aren't as…well…questionable. But enough of that, I'm going to tell you the rest exactly as I perceived it all in the dream world that was my vision.

I closed my eyes, resting my head down on my pillow, trying to imagine who in this life would be all-too-willing to succumb to the crazy antics that was my trainer's math-tortured brain. Of course, I was clueless, but knowing my trainer, he had some image in mind, whether they were real or fake. I focused my energy onto the thought waves near his head, hoping he wouldn't notice my psychic presence. Fortunately, he didn't bat a conscious eye, and I found the phrase "Senior Design" embedded into his train of thought. Yep. Just as I suspected. He was completely void of practical logic and was processing the aftermath of scientific theory and nonsensical headaches mixed with some unsettling dream he probably woke to this morning.

I opened my eyes. He had hardly moved. I shifted my gaze across the horizon of my feline form and found his homework on the floor next to his gaming rocker. I contemplated whether or not I should remind him of his unfinished assignments and rescue him from whatever nonsense he was writing, but then I realized that perhaps he was trying to rescue himself from the trap of academics. I can't blame him. I just wish there was a better way to keep him focused and in the right state of mind. He needs a girlfriend or something. I glanced over to the book I was reading. Just thinking of the black words on cream-yellow-tainted white paper made my eyes grow heavy, and I succumbed to sleep.

The image of a city faded into my mind. It was large, showcased many white buildings, and appeared relatively compact compared to metro areas in the likes of Evergreen. On one end of the city was a golf course, another - small homes filled with pokemon. But what stood out was the forest valley, hiding a lush blue lake guarded by the fiercest, yet noblest of the land. They stood for good and for truth, for morals and peace, and yet I felt I had somehow played a part in it all. It was an odd feeling. I also got the feeling this city was somewhere between Evergreen and the mudlands, just northwest of LED Lake, perhaps in Sprint County?

Suddenly, I saw in time-lapsed speed the city under attack by black creatures, likely pokemon, though they were unlike any I had ever seen before. They made their home near the city, and slowly grew in power. One day they drove the people out of the city, claiming it as their own. But the guardians of the lake and all the pokemon of the city - they didn't give an inch. And thus war struck between the two forces. Fortunately, the war never reached to the degree of fatalities, but I could still hear the cries of pain and agony which suggested that line had nearly been crossed. Regardless, after some time, those of the valley penetrated into the city streets. The black creatures outmatched those of the valley in strength, but the pokemon of the valley did not rely on strength, but strategy and strong leadership. They disrupted communication between the black creatures, sending the black creatures into chaos and ultimately self-destructing. The black creatures fled in fear, with no signs of returning.

I looked closer at the valley the brave warriors were returning to. What I saw surprised me. The paths I imagined to be dirt trails were fully paved. The homes inside giant tree trunks were powered by electricity and featured modern conveniences such as computers and dishwashers. A large communications tower next to the lake began broadcasting a signal, an alert to the humans that their city was available again nearly undamaged despite the war that took place. The humans never returned.

The rate of sunrises and sunsets multiplied a hundred-fold. The city began to spur with life, but yet no human touched its streets. A kingdom grew, guarded by the protectors, who blessed the royal family with wisdom and the ability to rule in peace. The kingdom was at peace - and prospered. But suddenly the black force slowly returned, at first only as rumors, but then as a threat. Suddenly my point of view changed as time slowed to a crawl. I saw two images side by side, each with a story I somehow was able to read. One princess, born with the desire of adventure. And one lonely vulpix, with no family, no friends, only a mission: Kill the princess…

…or be killed.

My eyes burst open. I looked up at my unlit surroundings. I was breathing heavy, unsure of the conflict I saw. It was a conflict only few could properly tell the tale of, and yet I knew that there would be a time for it to be told once, and a time for it to be told again. I glanced over at the book I was reading, quickly flipped through the pages, and sighed. I was trying to calm my breathing, but I was struggling. I looked at my trainer, who had crawled into bed and was fast asleep during my dream. Was it a dream? It seemed more than that to me. I tried to go back to sleep, but I felt the cold chill of a shadow creep into the room, slowly reducing the projection of the moon to nothingness. I tried to ignore it, but it came closer and closer, until I could feel the complete darkness surround me. I chalked it up to sleep's grasp, but then suddenly the shadow grabbed me. I shrieked, firing off my psychic into the air around me. The shadow never recoiled, instead contorting my body and distorting the dimensions around me. Slowly I felt myself fading, fading, and falling. I struggled in the air and spun out of the dimensions of time and space. That's when I really opened my eyes.

The sunlight was shining through the window. I was on the floor, wrapped in blankets pulled from the bed. Bre was on the ledge looking dazed and confused as if he had some strange dream. Then again, I couldn't have appeared any better. I glanced around the room. Brooklynn and Abigail were out of it too. Prixy was blushing red. When Bridget walked in with pancakes, she gasped at the sight of everyone. Melody jumped and hid in the blanket hamper.

And that was it. That was my story. I'll polish this up later. It is difficult to write. I still have nightmares about that vulpix in my dream within a dream. There was just something so off-putting about the situation. A story I've read once per Bre's recommendation. A story I feel will come to life again.

Yikes!

~Spe

Well…

From what I gathered, it seemed like this company, Spe, Bre, Brooklynn, Abigail, Melody, Prixy…

Melody Prixy? Is that coincidence?

Regardless, all of these pokemon had some kind of "guests" over and seemed to all get visions that night. They must have decided to all write about it, and Spe, the author must have been the first. Spe is very clearly a powerful psychic by the way he writes. Much of it will very easily go over your head if you aren't focused, and of course this is a draft meant for those he lives with, so he left out a lot of explanations his associates would already know. It took me quite a while to break this apart. The first part seems to be a vision to an alternate reality, with nothing more than a thought to ponder. The real excitement comes when Spe falls asleep inside his dream, the vision within a vision.

Let me be clear! The city described in the dream location-wise is exactly the location and layout of Eon City. There is absolutely no doubt they are one and the same. However, the tribe described in the vision is nothing like the Eon tribe now. The Eon tribe right now is tattered, torn, and on the brink of self-destruction. In no way could it defend itself from a force powerful enough to drive an entire human population out of a city, much less Eon City. Perhaps maybe back when Keyoneth was still around, but certainly not now. Additionally, the Eon tribe doesn't have dishwashers yet. Perhaps this is the future of the Eon tribe? However, from the recent happenings, I'm not sure if the tribe will still have the Gaurdians' Blessing for long. The phrase "a time to be told once, and a time to be told again" is a figure of speech derived from concept of children's bedtime stories. The time it was told once was fiction, a myth or a fairytale. The time it was told again is history, a reality. In other words, the story of the vulpix that had Spe so shaken was a fairytale that became reality much later in time. This wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened, as the Temporal Tower's near-collapse was predicted by the tale "Temporal Time". However, I am not familiar with any fairy tale depicted in the vision, though it sounds like a fantastic plot if you ask me. Sorry. I should not wish such kind of reality. Fortunately, the last part of the vision clues us in on the validity of this vision. Must I remind you Spe is clearly a very strong psychic to have recognized the shadow was pulling him through time and space. In the world of visions, this kind of event has a very specific meaning. It implies that everything seen in the vision represents only one path of the past or future among multiple possible timelines. Whether or not what was seen in the vision will become reality is dependent on variables yet to be determined.

So what can we take from all of this?

Well unfortunately this piece leaves us more questions than answers, but I believe that has more to do with present issues than the vision itself. Two things are clear. One, we may have uncovered what may be the future of Eon City. Two, we may have seen a future outlook of Black Lake, which is rather interesting. What isn't clear is the context of this document, but I am confident we will know more once we have broken more aura encryptions.

Until then, let us know your thoughts,

~Drake

~Eon Undercover Historical Analysist