Only Shadows

Her blue eyes stared upon the creature. His yellow skin, which glistened in the cave's darkness. Those crescent moon eyes, which stared directly through her soul. His well polished, and silver gleaming pendulum, which was silent for a change. Seeing him made her pull back, and for good reason. He was the one who caused all of this terror. The yellow beast with the crescent eyes. His face was silent, devoid of any emotion. Like a machine.

May Ruby, Hoenn Champion. She shivered in place, before the powerful arm of her Blaziken pulled her back. Landing on her feet, the Trainer and her Pokémon gazed upon that beast. Hypno, the Hypnosis Pokémon. It stepped forward, one foot at a time, its pendulum swinging. His footsteps were heavy, and each one made the Champion shiver. This being she was tasked with defeating, was no mere Pokémon. May knew that now. No, this monster was Satan himself.

And now he stood before them. Gazing upon them with eyes as that matched those of Swellows, the Hypno stood poise to act. What act that was, May knew it wouldn't be good. The Hypnosis Pokémon began to swing his pendulum, once again trying to send May to sleep. But what horror would she be forced to endure next? Was being separated from her Pokémon not good enough? Was making her kill children not good enough? What did he want? Her very soul? She wouldn't allow that.

"I'm impressed by your candor," Hypno whispered, though his lips did not move, "Any lesser being would have fallen by now, I am sure of that..." he started walking closer, which made Blaze grow defensive, "But... you are no lesser being... You are a Pokémon Champion, after all... If you fell so easily, it wouldn't give much credence to your title..."

"Where are my Pokémon!?" May roared out, "And what have you done to those people!?"

"You say that to me?" Hypno inquired with a chuckle, "You question me on my actions, but not your own?" he stepped closer, "What about those children you so callously struck down?" he moved even closer, "How do you feel about them, hm? Is that still my fault?"

May began walking away as she shivered.

"Y-yes... it is your fault," she stated, "You... you made me do that!" she began to growl, "You made me do that!"

"That's the problem with all you Pokémon Trainers..." Hypno stated, "Always blaming your Pokémon instead of yourself..." he shook his head as his pendulum began to waver, "Is it really my fault you struck down those human children? For we all know here your Blaziken would not have attacked them on his own wills. It was your order, which gave rise to his rage."

"SHUT UP!" May yelled, "Blaze! Blaze Kick!"

Silence. Absolute silence. Why silence? Wasn't a certain burning fighter bird supposed to strike that Hypno down now? Why had Blaze not delivered the burning kick to that Hypno's freaking face!? A certain cold swath poured over her, making her shiver down to her boots. Blaze was right behind her; his flames should have kept her well warm. Turning around slowly, she learned why.

Blaze was just standing there, his eyes misty. He was wobbling, as if unable to continue standing upon his feet. He shook, his eyes rolled to the back of his skull, and he fell back. May was flabbergasted by this sight, and immediately ran to his side. Her hands grabbing his chest and sides, she shook him in an attempt to wake the Blaze Pokémon from his silence. It wasn't working.

"Come little children... come with me..." the Hypnosis Pokémon whispered.

The Hoenn Champion gazed upon the beast. He was steadily walking forward, his pendulum moving. May immediately closed her eyes in an attempt to stop Hypno's actions. Still, the image of his pendulum swinging bore into her head. She could see the sterling silver device, waving left and right. Its movements, even in her head, became hypnotic. She felt her body grow extremely weak. Her knees buckled, her breathing grew more relaxed, her entire body slumped over. May started to wobble, for she found it hard to remain standing.

Her steadily thumping heart had now slowed. Slowed dangerously, in fact. Finally, after seeing nothing but darkness, May's eyes opened. Hypno was standing before her, and his pendulum was directly in eyesight. His Hypnosis was working, and May knew it.

"N... no..." she whispered, as rest finally took over.

May Ruby fell back, landing upon the silent body of her Blaziken. They laid there, atop one another, as silent as could be. May was the more flustered one; it looked as if she didn't want to sleep. But when her body fell atop Blaze, he clutched her close. It was just his love for his master, it seems.

But there was no such love floating from Hypno. There was no such mercy floating from Hypno. There was only darkness, and shadows. His mouth curled into a demented smile, one which showed all his shimmering white teeth. His pendulum began to shake, as his hand met May's forehead. With impressive power, he lifted the Champion up by her head alone. He was going to have more fun with this than he should have.

"May... May... how long are you going to rest there? May... get up!"

It was a rude awaken. She sprang up from this soft bed, a trail of snot and saliva flowing from her nose and lips. Her body was hacking and wheezing with a pain, which started within her chest. She placed her hand upon her chest, trying to relieve the burning tension which swelled under her breast. The Trainer must have looked like an absolute mad woman as she breathed so heavily.

"May... are you okay?" the little boy's voice asked, the one which woke her up.

She recognized that voice. Just hearing it was enough to make her blue eyes open. What was he doing here? In fact, where was 'here'? Her blue eyes traveled around the area she found herself. A small cozy room. Brown floors, broken only by a red rug, a window which gave a beautiful image of the outside, the walls which were relatively homely. There was a TV in the room, huddle close up to the wall. Beside that TV, the lovely purple box known as the GameCube.

The Trainer began shivering. Her entire body was trembling. She shouldn't have been here. How did she get here? Pokémon Champion May Ruby was home. Which meant, the little boy in her room who was bothering her was...

"Max...?" May inquired as she turned away.

Indeed. That small boy with the blue hair and the heavy glasses. Max Ruby, May's younger, and obnoxiously smart, brother. He stood at her bedside, his hand fiddling with his glasses heavy frame. He seemed positively annoyed by May's lackadaisical actions, deeming her quite the air head. Yeah, May could tell that by looking into his eyes alone.

"Hurry up May," Max suddenly said as he turned toward the room's exit, "I'm ready to get going..."

And just a few minutes later, he slipped through the door. May's wide blue eyes stared up and around this room. It was her very same room, right down to the split in the floor she stubs her toe constantly on. It was all here. Hell, even her clothing, was the clothing she wore when sleeping at home. Her small shirt with the center heart imprint, and the ketchup stain in the lower corner. The night shorts which weren't really fitting her anymore, but she was too lazy to switch out of. This was her room. This was her clothing. Was this her life? Everything appeared to be right in order, set perfectly. But there was one big difference, on difference she felt stupid for not noticing until now.

Her Poké Belt, the very article of clothing she never left home without, was not here. She normally put it on her bed post, hanging it up by its straps. But her coveted belt did not sit there. May's confused shivers gave way to full-blown pants. She placed her hand upon her forehead in an attempt to figure out this insanity.

Okay, let's set everything up. Two men came to her Secret Base, asking her for help. She went with them to Three Island in the Sevii Islands, where she found their town to be devoid of life. Both figuratively and literally. She traveled into Berry Forest where she met a girl named Lostelle. Lostelle lead her to a Hypno who must be Satan. The Hypno knocked her and her Pokémon out, then took them to a cave. She traveled around the cave with Blaze...

Wait... BLAZE!?

May leaped from her bed, landing hard on her room's rug. As soon as her foot touched down, she slipped up upon something warm. She slammed, face first, into the rug, which almost knocked her out. Instead, May groaned in pain, as she tried to figure out what just happened. She slipped on something, something which was chirping angrily. After sitting upon her butt, May gazed down to see what she accidentally tripped over.

A Torchic. A very small, very angry, Torchic. It chirped irritatingly, whilst sprouting flames from its cute little mouth. May, braving through the gentle flames, moved closer to the Chick Pokémon. The Torchic wasn't yet placated; he was still fuming. That was until May placed her hand upon the back of his tiny little neck.

"B-B-B..." she moved closer, "Blaze?"

"Torchic!" the Chick Pokémon, as he was still angered by her stepping upon him.

What the hell was going on in here? Why was she at home? Where was her Poké Belt? How the hell did she get here? And why was Blaziken a Torchic again? It doesn't really take a Team Rocket Scientist to figure this one out. The waving pendulum which swung around in Hypno's hand. He did this to her, he trapped her inside her own mind. Strange that her own mind took the form of her house. Though, to be really honest, she's not completely surprised.

"May!" her mother's voice called from downstairs, "What are you doing up there!?"

Her gaze drifted to her closed door. That sounded like her mother, but May was no fool. She knew the woman downstairs was nothing more than an illusion. An illusion crafted by that blasted Hypno.

Still...

"I-I... I'm coming!" she answered to the woman who was downstairs.

May began to fret even more as she slammed her back up against her walls. Dragging her hand and fingers through her hair, she tried to come up with an answer behind all of this. The Hoenn Champion was panting heavily, for her adrenaline was rumbling through her veins. The harsh notion of fear was making its way into her body, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

There had to be a way out of this, there just had to be. Hypno had merely put her to sleep, right? Nothing more, nothing less, right? And in sleep, you can wake up whenever you want to, right? Just think hard on it then, BOOP!, you wake up. That's how it works. That's how it always works.

Then why wasn't she waking up? May was literally bashing the back of her head against the wall. It was making loud THWOMPING! noises throughout. But she never woke up. Whenever she opened her eyes, she found herself still trapped within this faux-world. May was slowly loosing hope as she collapsed to her bottom. Still leaned up against the wall, she placed her face into her knees, while she hugged them close. From the outside, one could hear gentle sobs of sadness resonate from her lips.

Blaze the Torchic was taken aback by his master's actions. He ran up to May's side, chirping cutely in an effort to get her attentions. It wasn't working, in fact, it made the Hoenn Champion feel even worse. Where was her Blaze? The real Blaze? Why was he not here, helping her through this? Why did she only have this small fake Blaze? The one which was still a Torchic? Better yet, why was this happening?

"Torch... Torchic... chic...?" Blaze, that is the fake Blaze, was pecking her on the thigh now, in an attempt to get his master's attention.

After a few minutes, May pulled her vision over from the valley of her knees. Her blue eyes stared hard into her Torchic eyes, reading the emotions he gave to her. He was just as, if not more so, confused as she was. Why had May fallen to her knees so suddenly, and began to cry? He didn't understand, of course, and for good reason.

May was trapped here. Trapped in her own mind. But there had to be a way out of this, there just had to be. May wasn't going to stay trapped in here, not as long as she had control over herself. As the old saying goes; if there's a will, there's a way. And May had will, she had a boatload of it. It takes someone with amazing will-power to stop two titanic legendary Pokémon from reducing not only the Hoenn Region, but the world, to ecological hell. But, hey, May did it. And she'd do it again.

May dragged one arm against her face, while at the same time scratching the bottom of Blaze's chin. The Chick Pokémon grew a bit in temperature, as he gained such loving affection from his master. Oh how he enjoyed her touch. But what was with her actions? Was May planning something that he didn't know?

"I'm happy you decided to walk me to the trainer academy," Max stated, as he gazed up to his older sister, "I thought you were going to throw a hissy-fit again."

When he said that, he gained an annoying and cocky smile, it made May's blood boil. But she had no reason too. This was the world created by her mind, right? The world Hypno trapped her in. Honestly, she was having a hard time separating this from a simple illusion, or a realistic dream. Evidence supported the former, for she lacked the godlike abilities one gains from being within their dreams.

And yes, she did try to choke Max unconscious. It didn't work.

The Ruby siblings trekked through Petalburg woods together, hand in hand. Despite his superior brain, Max still felt the need to hold onto his older sister's hand. It was something May hadn't done with her younger brother in quite some time. A few years, in fact. Holding onto Max's hand was something she enjoyed when she were younger. Nowadays, he's studying in the Rustboro Trainer Academy, in an attempt to become a Pokémon Trainer himself.

Was this illusion or dream around her, just a glimpse into days of old? She remembered leading Max to Rustboro city, sometime years ago. By this point in time, she had already defeated Rustboro City's Gym Leader, Roxanne, and was searching for a way to challenge Brawly in Dewford Town. At least, that's how she remembered it. By now, she could have sworn Blaze had evolved into a Combusken, and was no longer a Torchic. But she could just be remembering things wrong. That's possible too.

"Hey! May! I can see the city!"

The Hoenn Champion was so enthralled by her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed the city of Rustboro come so close. They were just before the bridge, which lead to the city's pavement. Max took off without her, bolting down the bridge at high speeds. May chuckled inwardly as she watched her brother, before picking up the pace herself. Even though none of this was real, it still felt so good. May began to laugh herself, as she chased down her younger brother. The Ruby siblings giggled and laughed on the Rustboro bridge, whilst making way toward the city itself.

There was a clap of thunder. A bright flash filled the land suddenly, blinding the Hoenn Champ. Suddenly, she was no longer on the Rusboro Bridge, chasing her younger brother down. She was standing at the base of a city, with it raining heavily upon her. May's hair began to fall and droop, as they became drench by the rainfall from above. Eyes moving up, May peered into the puffy grey clouds of yonder. Rain was heavily striking her in the face, and it hurt. It were as if something was tossing little pebbles into her skin.

After a while, May brought her vision down to the grass below. It was a horrible grey, as if death had touched in. When her vision drifted back up toward the horizon, she found just a small little settlement. Everything else was a grey and dead as a swamp. The ground gushed water, the trees were slumped over and breaking in various places, fog settled deep over the land's horizon. This place was death itself.

"This is not real..."

It was a woman's voice, one which came from behind. She lacked any sight, just darkness for eyes. May's eyes widened as she heard this voice move through her ears. It was impossible to put her fingers upon. Quickly turning around to face this being, May saw no one. She was alone, all alone, in this place. How did things change like this.

"There is no light for you..." an old man's voice seemingly barked, "Only shadows..."

Another cackle of thunder; May turned around. Nothing, no one, she was alone. Her heart began to beat and race; fear was taking over her. But where was she supposed to run? To that town? When gazing back at the town, May found that it too had vanished. As if it were never there.

"You are dreaming..."

Another cackle of thunder roared over head. May dropped to her knees as this sharp, knife-like, pain slashed her mind. It were as if someone had stabbed her in the head, right at the temples. That's how painful this feeling was. But when the Champion's eyes opened, there was no one else in this world with her. She was just alone.

But there was blood on her hands. As if she had stabbed someone. May was really beginning to freak out now. Her chest moved up and down, her mouth constantly expelling air. Her blue eyes grew as wide as could be, all thanks to the blood on her hands.

"You will never wake up..." May stood stared up to the being who spoke to her. It was some teenage boy. His face was devoid of life, but that's not what held the Champion's attentions. It was his eyes, or should I say, lack thereof. He had no eyes whatsoever, just darkness. May could only bear the sight of them for a few seconds, before she pulled away in shock, "Your mind belongs to Hypno..."

"Do you know what happened?"

That was Lostelle. That! Was Lostelle! May turned around, where her suspicions were confirmed. Lostelle stood there, and much like the teen before, she too had an emotionless voice. And, of course, darkness for eyes. She stared at May with her nonexistent eyes, walking closer and closer. It took May a while to figure out that Lostelle's question was not rhetorical. She fully expected an answer from the Trainer. To that, all May could do was shake her head know. She did know what happened to her, but things were happening too fast.

May blinked. As soon as her eyes reopened, Lostelle was gone.

"Hypno has possessed your dreams..."

What did she mean by that? Was that the reason why May couldn't leave her dreams? Had the Hypnosis Pokémon actually possessed her own dreams? Her own mind? There was more to this, May knew that, but how was she supposed to find the answers herself? Where was she at? And where was she supposed to go?

Another cackle of thunder; these things weren't helping. May felt a growing migraine brew in her mind. This caused her to fall to her own knees. Her legs sloshed into the cold, wet swamp ground below. A heavy loud screaming, bounced between her ears. It didn't sound like someone was yelling at her from the outside, it felt like a little man was in her head, screaming from the inside. Louder and louder, the howling became, which caused May yell as well. She tried to drown out the screams with her own screams, but it wasn't working. The yelling would have its way until...

It suddenly stopped. The screaming, that is. The raining was still there, the thunder and lighting too, but the screaming and migraine had both subsided. May could finally open her eyes and stand. Her vision was blurry at first, but slowly returned to perfection. Upon doing so, May found herself standing at the base of a massive tower. It loomed high into the sky, unhindered by sight and sound. May gazed up the tower with her arm blocking out the rain. What was this doing here? Was this yet another apparition created by her mind? No, not her mind, but Hypno's antics within her mind. Speaking of the Hypnosis Pokémon...

He was standing there, at the tower's entrance. His body, covered by a brown cloak. He was sitting on a rock, whilst using his cloak to polish his pendulum. Every time water fell upon it, which was all the time because it was raining, Hypno would wipe clean the item. He stopped, however, when May walked up to him.

"Hyp... no..." May whispered.

Usually, such a call would be filled with power and vigor, but May didn't have it in her. She was shaking, right down to her soggy shoes. Hypno was unimpressed. He just walked up to her, whilst keeping his distance.

"Hypno..." May repeated, though she was a bit more forceful with this call, "What... are you doing to me?"

"Your dreams..." Hypno answered, "Now... are mine..."


Hey! No, I haven't given up on this story. I just got sidetracked with some other things. Sorry bout that.

Anyway, you know the same old same old. Please read and review.

Maverick Kay Prime