10. Protect

"If I'm asleep, then wake me up!" Typhus yelled. "Right now, Raios! Right now!"

"It's okay!" said Raios. He wished Typh wouldn't hold him so tightly. "Just think about how you're not really in danger."

"You don't know that…"

"It wouldn't make any sense if—"

Another roar came, louder than ever. Typh squeezed Raios again, who gasped. "I'm… not a… big doll," he uttered. Once Typh released him a little he added, "I know it's scary, but we have to do something about it. We can't just… sit here." He rose into the air, carrying Typh with him, moving slowly through the dark. "We can hide for now," he whispered. "But you have to stay quiet. And watch out if we hit a wall."

"How does hiding help?" Typh murmured. He sounded a little more composed—but still anxious, judging by his unwaveringly tight hold of Raios. "We have to stop that thing."

"I would attack, but I can't see."

"Then use—AAAHH!"

A huge torrent of water blasted Raios and Typhus apart, and Raios hurtled through the darkness until he crashed into a rocky wall. He felt very real, overwhelming pain all over, but it rapidly faded away. Suddenly Raios was in the water again, dazed and even more disoriented—he couldn't recall falling back down at all. His head rang—he could make out some loud roars, but they seemed miles away.

"Ughhh," Raios groaned—faintly, because he remembered something about being quiet.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" cried a high-pitched voice nearby. "Is that you, Typh?"

"No… I'm Raios."

"Oh! Are you alright? You sound different."

"Who are you?" Raios asked bluntly.

The voice squealed, "I'm Lapras!" Raios felt something grab his arm from the water. "See? Here you are… wait a minute, is this whole thing your arm? How did you get so big?!"

"Am I big?" Raios said dumbly. He felt the creature who claimed to be Lapras climb into his arms—and whatever it was, it really was small. "It makes more sense if… it's the other way around. You shrunk," he added, starting to regain his senses. "If you're really Lapras… maybe you turned small without knowing it. To get away from the monster."

"If Lanturn was able to transform… then that seems possible. Oh, but I don't want to remain miniaturized!"

"Then think of something bigger!" Raios urged. "I bet you can control it. Turn into something that glows so we can see!"

"I've only seen one electric Pokémon," said Lapras, "and I am not going to turn into a Lanturn. Furthermore, I don't even know how I became like this."

The monster was closing in again, judging by the loud rumblings that seemed to be approaching fast. The tiny Lapras trembled in Raios's arms and asked, "What do we do?! I'm too small to fight!"

Raios came up with something. "Just go hide for now," he said, putting Lapras back in the water. "I have an idea. I need to find Typh."

"Good luck," sounded Lapras's small voice, already a distance away.

Raios rose in the air again and called out Typh's name. Another huge water attack promptly rushed his way, but he darted off across the cavern before it could hit him. "Where are you, Typh?!" Instead of an answer, Raios heard some whimpering—so he flew in that direction, hoping not to hit a wall again. "Typh?" he said gently. "It's me, Raios." His voice bounced off an area that seemed more enclosed.

"Oh, good," Typh said quietly, trying futilely to sound like he hadn't just been crying. "I found a dry corner. Is it over yet, Raios?"

"No. But I have an idea." Raios reached out and found Typh, and the Lugia took his arm. "So… Lapras is alive. He turned into something really small, so he could get away from the monster."

"If Lanturn can transform, then so can he, right?"

"Yeah. But he says he can't control it, so my idea is that we'll help him. Listen carefully for a second."

"I'm always listening… but okay."

"Everyone here is part of your unconscious—except for you, me, and your father, since we're from the real world."

"I know that. But Lapras and Lanturn really were my friends."

"Your unconscious must've picked those forms because of that. That's the important part—since they're not real, they can change forms. I wanted Lapras to turn into an electric Pokémon, so that we can have some light—and the advantage, since the monster is probably water. But he said he only knows one electric Pokémon."

"What's a Pokémon?"

"…It's another word for animal."

"Oh. Right. I only know Lanturn."

"Yeah, that's what Lapras said… he doesn't want to turn into that, and he'd probably still be too small either way," Raios said. "Are you sure you don't know any other electrics? If you know, then Lapras could turn into it."

Typh tried to recall every creature he had met, but he only remembered a bunch of marine ones and some birds. "I don't know…"

"Not even a Pikachu or anything?"

"No." Typh heard a rumble in the darkness and tried not to freak out about it. "Is that one powerful?"

"Uh…"

"Wait!" Typh whispered excitedly. "I remember a bird that was black and yellow. I saw it flying once, but my dad didn't let me go meet it. It seemed huge! Maybe it's electric too—the wings were all spiky."

"I don't know what you're thinking of," Raios said, "but if you got a really good look at it… maybe we can get Lapras to turn into one."

"How?"

Raios's hesitant answer was drowned out by another massive roar, so close that he could feel the monster's hot breath. He pushed Typh away and managed to say, "Stay calm!" before something snatched him up and cut into him—he felt the teeth or claws against his wing, and then his side, before the monster roared once more and carried him off. It didn't attack Raios further, apparently satisfied that he was too injured to escape its grasp.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Raios attempted to fight back. Again he found his psychic powers restricted—and the monster was constantly dragging him underwater, forcing him to focus on getting air instead. When he did get an opening, he tried a generic energy attack, but the dim beam dissipated harmlessly into the air. It was hopeless—Raios had never trained anything but his psychic powers, so his other attacks were all weak. And he was hurt. He could only wait for Typh or Lapras to save him… or for the monster to get tired.

It seemed to be content just carrying him around, for now.

Typh saw a dim light in the dark for just a split second. He knew things weren't going well for his new Latios friend.

"Raios…" he said faintly. "Now it's got you too." The young Lugia stood up in the dark. "There's no one left who can do this for me," he told himself. "I have to… fend for myself. Like Dad said." Typh slinked forward until he found the water, and slipped into it silently. First, to find Lapras.

Typhus swam as stealthily as he could, listening and feeling for anything in the water. A couple of times he bumped into a wall, but he shook off the collision and kept going. Whenever he heard a large rumbling or felt a massive surge in the water, he rushed away from the source as stealthily as he could. Eventually, someone called out to him in a timid voice.

"R-Raios?"

"No, it's me, Typh," Typh whispered back.

"Oh. I keep guessing wrong… this is me, Lapras. Even though I sound really small, and I am small—"

"Raios told me all about it. And the monster has him now, so it's up to us."

"Oh no… what do we do, then?"

"You probably don't know about this… I remember seeing a black and yellow bird fly by once, when I was out exploring with my dad. The bird looked huge, and it was probably an electric one. Can you… turn into it?"

"I doubt so. I don't even know what animal you're talking about," Lapras said.

"Wait." Typh went ahead and asked a question he'd meant to ask Raios. "The transformation thing… you and Lanturn both did it under stress, right?"

"Oh. Yes. It was involuntary."

"And you're not a fish… right?"

"No. I'm not quite sure what I am, to be honest. I feel the generally same, but much smaller."

"Let me see you, Lapras. Or hold you—you know what I mean."

Something poked into Typh's side, and he picked up a small, slippery animal with what felt like a tiny, hard shell. "Here I am," Lapras said, embarrassed. "Don't squish me, and don't laugh at me…"

"Wow, it's true." Typh almost couldn't believe it until he felt Lapras there in his own grasp. "Okay, Lapras. I'm picturing the bird I saw with as much detail as I can remember. I want you to do that too."

"What? I don't even know what you're thinking of!"

"Just try it, okay? I know you can do it."

"No, I… I can't. I still don't even believe that I'm your unconscious—that must be what you're trying to take advantage of here. Some kind of psychic trick!"

"Picture it hard, okay?" Typh repeated, ignoring Lapras's protests.

"Oh, fine! I feel like I'm making it up, but…" Lapras sighed. "Sure thing, Typh. I'm picturing the bird. Now what?"

"I'm going to do something, but you have to not get angry at me." The last thing Typh wanted was for Lapras to become a second monster. "Don't feel rage. You just have to focus on the bird. Okay?"

Typh's tiny friend squirmed. "What do you mean?!"

"Just trust me, Lapras! The monster could be coming any second!"

"Fine," Lapras sighed. "I wish you would be clearer, but… you certainly have more of a plan than I do. Alright… I'm picturing the bird."

"Don't… don't get mad at me, okay Lapras?"

"I won't, I won't. I promise."

Before Lapras could react, Typh lifted him up and placed him in his jaws. Sideways, Lapras didn't fit completely in his mouth, which was fortunate to say the least. "Oay! Ee ihuree uh irr," Typh managed to say.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Lapras yelped loudly. "You're not eating me, are you? I may be small, but I'm not a morsel! Typh!"

"Ooh awmifh," reminded Typh, before taking a deep breath and diving straight down. Lapras immediately struggled to escape, but Typh tightened his bite, taking care not to actually chomp down on his poor friend. He felt so cruel… but it was the only way to change Lapras from puny to powerful.

Typh stopped diving down, before he crashed into the bottom. He had plenty of air left, so he calmly waited for Lapras to run out. As calmly as he could, at least—he could hardly stand to feel his friend's writhing and hear his panicked underwater cries. Sorry Lapras, he kept thinking. Please don't hate me, he hoped.

Soon Lapras paused, and shuddered. Then he went limp.

Typhus feared that he had gone too far, that he had drowned his last friend. Horrified, he started to whimper underwater, losing some of his breath in the process. But then… the body in his jaws began to wriggle with renewed vigor. It started to expand, too, and Typh felt his mouth being forced wider and wider. The entity lost its slickness and turned bristly, poking Typh's mouth as it grew. Finally, with a little jolt—an electrifying zap—Typh recoiled and spat out his friend. Lapras, or what used to be Lapras, finally escaped into the darkness, and Typh immediately followed it to the surface.

The monster intercepted him.

Something shook Raios forcefully.

He reflexively coughed out some water, and then he jumped—a huge, black and yellow bird stared him in the face, utterly concerned. It looked down on him at an angle, to avoid jabbing Raios with its impressively long beak. "Are you okay?!" it asked. After a moment, Raios realized that he could actually see in the dark—the bird glowed faintly.

Raios groaned. He kept getting hurt, and passing out… he couldn't take much more. "Is that you, Lapras?" The bird nodded eagerly at the name, and Raios smiled. "You did it..."

"Yes! Yes I did!" the bird said triumphantly, in hushed tones. "Oh, I feel so invigorated! Typh nearly drowned me, and… it worked. Look at me, I'm fairly massive!"

"That's good… ugh." Raios fought off a throbbing headache. "Where did you find me? It was carrying me before."

"Well, I picked you up from the water. Trust me, you want to be out of there when I start using electricity. I know well enough to tell you that much."

"Thanks…" Raios took a deep breath and gained an ounce of strength. "I'll watch from here, I guess. Good luck."

"I'm well equipped now! By the way, you might want to close your eyes for a second." Lapras took off, and with an exhilarated cry he unleashed a blast of light that illuminated the whole cavern. "Here I am, you monster!" he announced bravely, his wings generating dazzling light with every flap. "I know you have Typh! Let him go before I make you!"

With an answering roar, the monster revealed itself—some of its blue snaking body reared up from the water, looking like some cross between a fish and a dragon. Its mouth hung open in a furious gape—and Typh, lifeless, fell into the water. After sizing Lapras up for a moment, it roared again and fired a torrent of water his way.

Lapras dived just in time—the water brushed the very tip of his wing, causing no harm. "How could you do that to Typh, Lanturn?!" he cried. Even if the monster was feral and couldn't understand, it felt pretty satisfying to yell at it. "I thought you wanted to protect him!" Lapras dived through the air to grab Typhus in his talons—

But the monster blasted him away with water. It kept bellowing, unfazed by Lapras's rivaling size.

"Stop it!" Lapras demanded as he shook himself off. "Look at Typh! He's… he's… oh, let me put him somewhere safe! Then we can fight!" He really wanted to just blast the enemy with lightning already, but the attack would fry Typh as well.

The monster answered with another roar—and a peculiar spinning motion. The air around it grew agitated, whirling around in a twister that started moving toward Lapras. It picked up water as it went, turning into a powerful improvised tempest and battering Lapras with two elements at once. He found himself trapped by the storm-force winds—he grew exhausted fighting against them, and soon he tumbled through the air, held aloft by the storm itself.

Something white and heavy rammed into him—Typhus! The storm was having its way with the poor Lugia, hurling him along like a chunk of debris. Lapras fought to catch up to him, and when he did he reached out and grabbed him with his talons. His wings were painfully sore by now, but he couldn't stop—he made for the center of the cyclone, which he somehow knew would be calmer.

By the time he made it there, though, the twister died down, returning its water to the cavern's pool. Ignoring the furious roars directed at him, Lapras hastily flew to the dry corner where Raios rested. He placed Typh down next to the Latios, who coughed and looked up.

"Good job," he said.

Lapras gazed at the two bodies lying there—they looked so small and feeble. Typh in particular was motionless, with his eyes closed and a terribly vacant expression on his face. "Is he…"

"He's got to be alive," Raios insisted. He lifted into the air just a little, and started pumping Typh's torso. The positioning was awkward… but it was the only thing Raios could do.

"I regret attacking Lanturn. I'm so sorry, you two…"

"Maybe it's what needed to happen." Raios held on to hope and kept pushing. "Go… fight that thing—it's coming over here!"

"Understood!" Lapras turned and took to the air again, confronting the monster. It thrashed in the water, more enraged than ever. Lapras knew it wanted Typhus, so he hovered between them. "You have to get through me first!" he challenged, not really expecting a reasonable response.

"Just attack!" Raios cried from below. He wanted everything to be over already. It was getting increasingly hard to believe that in the real world, everyone was just sleeping in a padded room—and Raios wanted to return there as soon as possible.

Lapras dodged a few more hydro attacks and mustered his strength, but… something was wrong. "I can't!" he panicked. "I can't do it!"

"You've got to be kidding me! You have the biggest advantage ever!"

"It's… it's like I'm attacking myself—I—I don't know—"

"The monster's attacking you, isn't it?"

"Yes, but—efghhhbbrbbbb!" Pounding water slammed Lapras into the wall and he collapsed, landing right on top of Raios and Typh. Raios managed to dodge most of the impact, but not Typh—the Lugia suddenly started to cough violently, and some water poured onto the floor.

"That can't be how water moves feel…" he groaned.

"Typh!" Raios cried, helping him out from underneath Lapras. "Are you okay?"

"I hope."

Raios pointed at the black and yellow mess sprawled on the floor. "Look at Lapras!"

Typh stared, only just noticing the bird's presence. Lapras looked exactly like the bird from his memories! "Wow… it worked! Yes!"

"He says he can't attack the monster…"

"But this needs to end right this minute!" Typh coughed again and stood up, shaking the huge bird. "Are you there, Lapras?!"

"Urrrghh…"

"You do that while I distract it," Raios said, hoping he didn't just volunteer to get destroyed. He flew off before anyone could object and fired another weak beam at the monster, triggering another tantrum and leading the enemy away from the corner of the cavern.

"I'm here…" Lapras uttered, lifting his head to gaze at Typh. He picked himself up and offered an explanation for his hesitation. "It must be a mental barrier of some kind. That's why I can't attack it."

A strange thought occurred to Typhus. If a mental barrier was stopping Lapras… then maybe Lapras needed to lose his mind. That idea soon developed into the only plan Typh could think of, and he was so tired of fighting that he didn't think twice about it. He took a deep breath and spoke softly, like someone giving a confession. "Look… I know why you can't attack. It's because… you're not meant to."

"…What?"

"Raios said it before. You're not real, just a… just my imagination. And I never imagined you to be strong. You're based off of my friend Lapras, who was the gentlest person I knew."

"No… I attacked Lanturn, remember?"

"That… that was me, Lapras. I did that, because I was angry she refused to bring my dad. You only imagined it was you."

"I swear I did…"

"You did yell at her. But I was the one who hurt her. Lanturn is so strong-willed, I thought she needed it."

The huge bird gave Typh the most despairing look of betrayal. "So you… you made her strong, but not me?"

"I'm sorry, Lapras… I wanted my friends, and… you just happen to be an unwavering pacifist. I might have exaggerated your character a little, but…"

"Can't you change things?! Make the monster weak! Make me a fighter!"

"It's too late. I can't undo or imagine new things either. I already tried."

Lapras seemed increasingly agitated—with good reason. "What do we do now, then?!"

"I don't know… I thought turning you into the bird would work for sure, since it worked for Lanturn, but… I guess the change is only on the outside."

"I don't want you to end up doing the attacking!" Lapras cried. "I have to protect you!"

"Sorry, but… you kind of can't do anything to help me. It's been that way from the start… you just kept me company. Thank you for that."

Lapras shook his head emphatically. "No! I saved you from the water when you were unconscious!" He spread his wings. "And I'm big enough to—"

"Did you save me? Or did you just imagine that too?"

"I very much saved you!" Lapras shouted. "Stop it!"

"Raios told me he found me!"

"I DON'T IMAGINE THINGS!" Lapras let out a piercing shriek. "I'm sorry for the loudness, but... I've done so much for you! From the night I found you crying alone… to moments ago, when I rescued you from drowning! How can you say none of it is real?! That I can't help you and never will?! I just want to protect you, Typh!"

Typh started to worry that the bird would lash out at him—he had a crazed look in his eyes. "If—if I'm wrong, then why can't you attack the monster?! You should try again!" he prompted, hoping he wouldn't have to provoke his friend much longer.

"No! It feels like… like I'm attacking myself! Ughhrr!"

"That's because you're both my imagination! See, it makes sense!"

"NO! I—YOU'RE—LYING!" Lapras's words seemed to come out with difficulty. "I cared—so much! And now—we—everything is—going wrong!" He threw his head back and forth, as if fighting something mentally. "I—love you—Typh! If I'm—not real—then I exist—to take care—of you!"

Typh trembled. As much as he regretted his hurtful plan, it could still work if he pushed just a little harder. "I'm… I'm sorry that you couldn't care for me! Try attacking again now! Please!"

"I CAN—CARE FOR—YOU! I—DID!" Lapras raged, completely ignoring the request.

"It's okay, Lapras—you were a n—nice friend!" Typh looked away to hide his wet eyes—he knew he was tearing Lapras apart, and his sorrow was starting to come out. He closed his eyes and delivered one last blow. "But Lanturn was the one who kept me safe!"

"NO!" Another enraged shriek. "IF I—CAN'T—PROTECT—YOU—THEN—"

The huge bird's cries turned wordless. Crackling with electricity, it deftly snatched up Typhus in its talons and shoved him into the very corner of the cavern. Typh feared the absolute worst, but then the bird abruptly turned and left.

Rocks obscured Typh's view. He wanted to see what was about to go down, but he couldn't move. After all that horrible aggravation he caused, he was too exhausted, afraid, and ashamed.