Hilda and Bianca arrived at the bright Striaton City! Outside of both their familiar zones, Hilda and Bianca would occasionally have to sidestep to dodge oncoming pedestrians. Something they never had to do in the earlier towns. To make this city seem even more crowded this is where the Pokémon Trainers School is found.
Bianca stopped once again like she did in Route two.
Hilda turned upon noticing her friend had stopped, "Bianca? What's on your mind?"
Bianca gave a 'be quiet' gesture, "Shh… I just heard something. It was really quiet but I heard it."
Hilda was bewildered, how Bianca could hear anything below a pin drop in this loud city was beyond her.
Bianca expression went from calm to surprised, "There it is again! It came from over there!" she took off running.
"Wait! Bianca slow down!" Hilda took off after her.
Hilda chased Bianca down a secluded path, passing a sign that read, Dreamyard.
As they hurried further down the path of trees the babble of the city grew softer and softer until there were only the discreet sounds of nature. The air was cool and the grass still soaked from the morning dew, most of the area shaded from the countless trees. Sunlight peered down between the leaves, creating glowing rays.
Bianca stopped, and focused again.
Hilda caught up to her, "Bianca? What are you doing?"
"The sound came from here. I'm sure of it! It sounded like a Pokémon, I know it came from here!"
The girls looked around, in the clearing of the peaceful yet mystical woods stood ruined walls and rubble, it was surprising that the walls were still standing. They were so broken that they appeared they could collapse at any moment.
In the midst of a breeze, a lonely call sounded through the air…
"Did you hear that Hilda?"
Hilda realized now what Bianca was talking about, "I heard something too!"
"It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the wall!"
"Come on! Let's check it out!"
They hurried inside the falling apart laboratory. There in the center floated a round petite pink Pokémon; which fled a short distance the second it saw the girls.
"Oh, wait! Don't run away!" Bianca called after it.
After getting close enough to get a decent view of the Pokémon, Bianca took out her Pokedex,
Munna, the Dream Eater Pokémon. Munna can eat the dreams of people and Pokémon alike, and then project those dreams by emitting Dream Mist from its body.
"It's so cute…" Bianca kindly said.
"Don't space out again now." Hilda teased.
Bianca giggled, "That's my specialty though."
Before the two could discuss any further, a pair of the strange uniformed people from earlier came from around the corner in front of them.
"We found you, Munna!" One of them shouts.
It was nerve-racking realization, Bianca blurted out, "Hilda! It's those guys! Umm… who did they say they were again?"
"It's those Team Plasma guys! What are they doing here?"
Team Plasma rapidly surrounded the Munna.
"Come on! Come on!" The other one demanded, "Make some Dream Mist!"
Munna looked back and forth between the hostile people.
"Hey wait a second!" Hilda shouted.
Bianca too yelled, "What do you think you're doing!?"
They angrily looked at the girls, "Huh? Us? This is what we, Team Plasma, do! We battle day and night to liberate Pokémon from foolish humans!"
"Liberate?" Hilda began,
"Pokémon?" Bianca finished.
"It's like the speech they made in Accumula Town!" Hilda thought.
"You see the Pokémon Munna and its evolved form; Musharna emit a mysterious vapor called Dream Mist, it shows the dreams of people! We're going to use that to manipulate people's hearts and make them want to release their Pokémon!"
Hilda scoffed, "That has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard!"
Neither bothered to respond, the male Plasma member took a step back and swung his bulky boot at the poor Munna. Kicking it like a soccer ball, the poor Pokémon crashed hard into a nearby wall, and fell to the ground.
"Come on! Spit out the Dream Mist!" he ordered, moving near Munna.
Both girls gasped at the viciousness.
"Leave that Munna alone!" Hilda screamed. She hurried for the Munna, kneeling and cradling it in her arms, shielding it from further harm.
Bianca ran to her friend's side, "You're kicking a Pokémon just to get Dream Mist? That's so mean! How could you guys do this when you have Pokémon yourselves!"
"We have Pokémon, but unlike you two, we're fighting for the freedom of Pokémon! In order to do that, we take people's Pokémon by force!"
It became clear to the girls that Team Plasma were serious about their declared goals.
"So, on that note, we're going to take your Pokémon from you! Starting with you! Go Patrat!" He pushed Bianca aside, sent out a Patrat, and cornered Hilda.
"Ek! Don't hurt Hilda!" Bianca cried. She reached out to intervene but the second Plasma blocked her way and shoved her back.
Hilda hugged the Munna close to her determined not to let these people steal from any of them, "Go Tepig!"
Tepig formed out light determined, "Tepig!"
"Tepig use Flame Wheel!"
Tepig's body ignited furiously, sprinting and giving Patrat a burning crash. Successfully distracting the Plasmas.
"Bianca! Tepig! Run!" Hilda shouted.
They took off but unfortunately they didn't get too far. The female Plasma lunged forward grabbing a strand of Hilda's ponytail, the thread of hair slipped through her fingers. Nonetheless the abrupt tug was enough to make Hilda lose her footing.
The fall sent Munna flying from Hilda's arms, "Bianca catch Munna!" she shrieked.
Bianca turned around and caught Munna just as it soared over her head. Team Plasma rushed past the collapsed Hilda toward Bianca, "We will get that Dream Mist!"
"What are you two doing goofing off!?"
The Team Plasma members froze in their tracks.
All noticed that Ghetsis had suddenly appeared behind them. He was directing his menacing stare at the two Plasma grunts.
Bianca held the Munna closer, "Hilda! It's that guy from Accumula Town! But where did he come from?"
Surprise to everyone a Ghetsis copy stepped out of the corner behind the original, "We, Team Plasma, shall separate Pokémon from foolish people!"
"What is going on here?" Hilda thought, "Why is there two of them?"
More Ghetsis's warped around the group, sending everyone's mind for a loop. Before a bunch of him surrounded everyone.
The sky and surrounding environment fell dark. All of the Ghetsis's merged together and grew larger, more fearsome, "If you cannot fulfill your duties…" his irate voice reverberated.
"T-this isn't…" the Team Plasma female stuttered, "Ghetsis when he is gathering followers… or Ghetsis when he is trying to control people by tricking them with speeches!"
"Yeah…" the other said, "This is Ghetsis when a plan has failed, and he's about to issue punishment!"
"This brings back memories! Not good ones either!"
"Well don't just stand there reminiscing let's get out of here!"
Team Plasma ran out as swiftly as they came. Hilda and Bianca eyed Ghetsis with disbelief. He shot the girls an intimidating glance before fading into thin air. Steadily, the atmosphere returned to normal.
"Wha…?" Bianca uttered, "What was that?"
Hilda had gotten to her feet and was brushing herself off; too stunned to answer Bianca.
Another Pokémon, similar in appearance to Munna came out of the tall grass. Munna jumped out of Bianca's arms and rushed to that Pokémon's side. But Hilda and Bianca were too bewildered to pay it any mind.
"What was that just now?" Hilda blurted out.
"I… I don't know. I just asked you that." Bianca stammered, "That Ghetsis person appeared all over the place, and… that wasn't real! Right!?"
"Was it all just a dream?" Hilda pondered, "And that Pokémon…"
Bianca pulled her Pokedex out again,
"Musharna, the Drowsing Pokémon. Evolved from Munna, The mist emanating from their foreheads is packed with the dreams of people and Pokémon. The dream mist coming from its forehead changes into many different colors depending on the dream that was eaten."
"Interesting…" Hilda observed, "So that's Musharna... Did that Pokémon make all those illusions?"
Musharna and Munna innocently floated away into the tall grass.
Bianca exhaled, "If it did... Musharna arrived just in time. But Team Plasma, I didn't think they were serious when we first heard them in Accumula Town..."
"From what we saw, I guess we gotta keep a look out for those guys. From all of that we can say they weren't just hearing themselves talk."
"I hope we don't ever have to see them again. Say Hilda, why don't you go challenge the gym? I'm going to stay here and look for the Pokémon we just saw."
"All right." Hilda adjusted her hat, "Bianca, are you sure? Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine Hilda. If they come back Musharna might too." Bianca comforted.
Hilda was amused at Bianca's high self-assurance. Even after what all had happened, "Even so, be careful and stay alert."
