Neo closed his book after finishing his last cup of coffee. "I did it again." He sighed. He had stayed up all night drinking coffee and reading a book, it was a bad habit he had because it usually deprived him of sleep. He knew Marigold or Ava would never let him stay up all night, so he had snuck out to a nearby diner that was open 24-7. He honestly didn't intend to stay up all night, just most of it. He closed his book and said goodbye to the waitress, heading back to Head Quarters. As he approached the building, he saw purple mist leaking from the building, several wild Pokemon watching it. "What the...?"
"Murkrow!" Midnight, Jericho's Pokemon, perched itself on Neo's shoulder.
"Dream mist, has to be dream mist." Neo muttered, taking out his X-transceiver and calling Prof. Elm. Almost immediately Elm answered, the video showing his face being played with by an Aipom.
"Hey Neo, what's up?" Elm asked, his voice a bit strange due to the Aipom pulling on his nose.
"Professor, I know you don't know much about this subject, but my building is filled with dream mist, and the whole Alliance inside. Can you help me out?" Neo asked, turning the transceiver to the building to show the Professor what he was seeing.
"Oh dear...I'll see what I can do." Elm sighed, his words barely understandable due to the Aipom sticking it's head in his mouth and "exploring" it. The call ended, leaving Neo and Midnight.
"Alright, let's see if we can find the source." Neo sighed before heading into the building.
Jericho sighed as he walked through a seemingly never ending purple mist. "Where am I?" He asked himself. The suddenly cleared a path, revealing Marcus and a Totem Pole walking side by side. "Marcus?!"
"Oh, hey Jericho." Marcus said.
"T-the Totem Pole of epic is...real?" He asked, blinking in disbelief.
"Yeah, I told you." Marcus rolled his eyes. "We're looking for Marshall and the Pole of awesome. You're welcome to tag along."
"I-i guess...so what's going on? Am I dreaming?" Jericho asked. It had to be a dream.
"Yes and no, we've been placed under the influence of dream mist. Someone wants the I.T.A. asleep." Marcus explained. "We need to wake the others up from their nightmares."
"Wait, if you're here...then how do you know this?" Jericho asked, rubbing his chin. "And why am I not in these nightmares?"
"Well, I'm sure it's no secret many of us here have peculiar abilities, like you seeing in the dark, and Jacen predicting moves." Marcus began. "For me, my sub-conscious helps me know what's going on around me when I'm unconscious. Also, you're used to being a pussy, too many ways to scare you."
"Shut up." Jericho rolled his eyes before looking to the Totem-Pole. "He doesn't say much."
"One can say quite a lot in little words." The pole replied, startling Jericho.
"U-uh...o-okay..." Jericho stuttered. "I can believe t-that." They walked for a bit longer before hearing an ear-piercing scream which caused the mist to split, revealing an elevator. "Uh..."
"Let's check it out!" Marcus and Jericho ran into the elevator, which began to close. The Totem Pole itself was far too tall to fit in. "Totem!"
"Goodbye Marcus." The pole said, just as the doors closed
Marcus slammed his hands on the elevator door, muttering profanities. The elevator eventually stopped, the doors opening to reveal a small forest area surrounding the side of a mountain, a well as a downed plane in front of them. "This looks familiar..." Once more the scream rang out, coming from the plane. The two boys ran towards the plane, and Marcus let out a gasp. "I know this!"
Sitting in front of the two was a trapped Eleanor, her leg being crushed by part of the plane, but her eyes seemed dead, staring straight ahead. They turned to see a woman and a little girl, both similar in appearance to Eleanor walking along a path on the outside of the mountain. A thunder attack hit the top of the mountain, causing large boulders to tumble down. The woman and the girl were caught in the landslide, sent tumbling down the mountain side with the rocks. Marcus winced, while Jericho closed his eyes. "Mom." They turned to the girl after hearing speak, barely audible, but heard nonetheless.
Arianna and Raven walked side by side, searching for anyone,or a way out. Arianna had deduced they were in a "dream world" but the rest was a mystery to her. She had come across Raven who was being chased by a group of Tyranitar's. After dealing with them, they banded together in an attempt to find a way out. Unfortunately, it began to seem like it would never happen.
Raven watched her carefully. He noticed how she kept at least three feet away from her. "Uh...I'm not contagious or anything." He said playfully. She kept quiet, eliciting a sigh from the boy. "Not very talkative huh?"
"It isn't anything personal." Arianna said.
Raven shrugged, deciding to leave it alone. "So, weathers nice." He said jokingly, trying to create conversation. He noticed her give a small laugh, causing him to grin. He didn't know why, but people had a hard time being angry or sad around him. He looked ahead and noticed someone standing there, waving at them. As they closed the distance, they noticed it was Jason, who seemed to be a statue.
"Jason?" Raven asked, tapping the boy. "You awake bro?"
"The world as we know it, gone. I tried to protect the world from the dusk, but I failed...forests burned down, cities destroyed, Pokemon and humans alike were murdered." Jason muttered. Arianna stared at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
"Jason!" Raven yelled, shaking the boy rapidly. Jason blinked multiple times before coming back to reality. "Glad to see you're okay."
"I was seeing the most horrible things..." Jason muttered, trying to calm down. He was sweating terribly and his heart was beating a thousand times per second. "Where are we?"
"Dream world." Arianna stated, walking past the two.
Raven helped Jason up and the two began walking, trying to catch up to her, though it was difficult since Jason was leaning on Raven for support. "We don't know how we got here, but it's obvious which Pokemon did this."
"Funny thing is, it was probably the Munna Alex found the other day...or whenever. Does time even work the same way here?" Jason asked worriedly, getting a shrug from Raven. "What if we've been stuck in here for days? Weeks, months even!"
"Chill out bro, doubt that's true." Raven laughed, not even the least bit worried. He noticed Arianna was much further ahead than before. "Hey Arianna, slow down, this isn't a race you know!" He noticed she slowed down a little, but still kept a distance from them, as if she wasn't trying to get too close. "What's her deal?"
"She's always been distant from us, she only talks to Lexi." Jason explained. "Come to think of it, she never actually hangs around guys, it's like she's afraid of us." He recalled the moment when they were in Snowpoint and he had taken the Poke-gear from the woman. It was barely any contact and she reacted suddenly, as if he was a monster or something. "Arianna?" He called out.
"Yes?" She asked, keeping ahead.
"Are you Androphobic?" Jason asked, breaking away from Raven to stand on his own.
"Why would you even ask that? If I were, I wouldn't even be on the League, let alone the Alliance." Arianna replied, turning around.
"Back in SnowPoint, you sure didn't seem to like me touching your hand." Jason countered. He knew she was hiding something and he had to find out what it was.
"I was just frightened is all, it was a destroyed prison building." Arianna shrugged. "Wouldn't you jump if something suddenly touched you?"
"Can we discuss this AFTER we get out of here?" Raven asked. He could tell this conversation was not going anywhere good.
Jason began walking intently towards Arianna. "So you won't mind me giving you a hug then?"
"I'd rather not, that would be kind of awkward considering we aren't exactly friends." Arianna stood her ground. That proved to be a mistake however. Jason lunged forward, attempting to grab her in a hug. However, she stepped back, avoiding the hug, but her leg was capture by the boy.
Marigold was shaking fiercely as she saw her Pokemon lay on the floor in front of her, none of them breathing. "Y-you monster! You killed them!" They were on the ground floor of the I.T.A. building.
"I was simply taking out the trash you were collecting." Dante replied, kicking aside Ken, her Blaziken. "Now I'm about to finish the job." He took a step forward, only to be stopped by a voice.
"What the fuck is going on here?!" Rein yelled, seeing the dead Pokemon, Marigold on the floor, and Dante advancing towards her. "Dante, calm down. You don't need to do this."
"Your right." Dante sighed. "But I want too." He took another step forward.
"You just need to calm down and think about what you're doing, I don't want to hurt you again." Rein cautioned him. She would do it if it came down to it. "Do not take another fucking step. Mari, stop shaking so damn much, you're just egging him on."
Marigold nodded and attempted to compose herself. "Why is he doing this?"
"It's a problem he's been trying to work through." Rein replied before ignoring her.
Dante decided not to say anything and took one last step. Almost immediately Rein swung her foot towards his face, only to have it blocked. Dante attempted to break her foot but Rein closed the distance, bending her leg and kneeing his chin, forcing him to let go. Dante threw a fist out, nailing the girl in the chin.
Rein hissed but ignored the pain and retaliated by moving his fist aside and kicking the side of Dante's head. This slowed Dante down noticeably but not enough. Rein prepared to launch another attack but was surprised to see Marigold smash a chair on his head, sending him into unconsciousness. "Thanks."
"What the hell was going on? He almost killed me, his own teammate!" Mari yelled.
"Stop yelling at me, I just saved your goddamn life." Rein rolled her eyes. "He has violent tendencies, and sometimes he gets out of control, it's like he's another person."
"I see..." Marigold nodded before looking over to her Pokemon. "They're dead..."
"No they're not." Neo's voice stated. Marigold and Rein looked around for the source. "This is all a dream. We were placed under the influence of a Munna and Musharna, whom I've apprehended. Elm is working on an "exit" for you guys."
"So this is a dream!" Marigold beamed. "If we wake up, we'll be able to get out?"
"It isn't so simple. Waking you guys up is going to be difficult. Whoever did this had it well thought out, using a psychic to keep us from breaking you out." Neo chuckled. "But it isn't entirely impossible. One way is to put enough volts through your bodies, but it could kill you."
"That's definitely the fucking way to do it!" Rein hissed.
"Or we could freeze you...but that isn't a very wise idea either." Neo muttered. "I'll keep you guys noted." With that his voice disappeared.
Neo let go of the Slowbro he was petting, having backed out of the Psychic connection he made with everyone to broadcast the message. "What a mess...what are we going to do Elm?" He waited a bit for a reply but never got one. "Elm?" He called out walking into the last room he saw him in. Elm was sitting at the counter, his laptop in front of him, however he was watching the Television in the room.
"Neo, you should watch this." Elm pointed to the television.
"Today, a total of three Legendary Pokemon were seen being abducted!" The reporter on the television announced. "The legendary Celebi, Groudon and surprisingly the famous Crystal's Suicune. Not much is known on why they have disappeared. The Pokemon Rangers are on the case, but the question is WHERE is the I.T.A?"
Neo shut off the Television. "Let's get some electric types."
Nara, Alex and Tyson were watching Marshall's dream very carefully. They're first instinct was to inform him of the situation, because obviously he didn't hear Neo's message. As it stands, he and Luminous were wearing gold Armour while fighting off multiple figures, each of them the same Female and male as the last. The two things that had them watch this carefully was because Luminous was a Mareep and Marshall was noticeably younger, and the figures shared distinct features with Marshall.
"They just keep coming Luminous!" Marshall yelled, swinging a sword while his Pokemon kept zapping the figures with thunder-shock. "We can't win!"
"Nonsense Bro-Slice, we got this!" To the spectators surprise, Luminous spoke back. "We're too awesome to fall here!"
"Y-you're right!" Marshall's sword began to glow with a brownish-silver aura. He swung the sword, which unleashed a wave of energy that had the same color, eliminating all the figures. Nara and Tyson couldn't help but face-palm whereas Alex just giggled.
"Like I said, as long as we're together, no one can stand up to our Awesomeness." Luminous grinned.
"Uh...Marsh?" Tyson snorted, trying not to laugh. "Sorry to interrupt your dream but...we should be finding others."
Marshall dropped the sword, his Armour disappearing. "One of the few good dreams and you have to be in it!"
"Marsh, this is a dream, but it's influenced by the Munna I found." Alex sighed. "It's the dream world, not a dream!"
"You guys better not be lying." Luminous narrowed his eyes. "I don't like liars."
"Why are you two so...young?" Nara asked, petting Luminous. "This guy is even cuter than before!"
"I-I'm not cute! I'll mess you up!" Luminous backed away from the girl.
"I'll tell you later Nara." Marshall patted Luminous' head.
"What about us?" Alex asked, motioning to herself as well as Tyson, who nodded in agreement.
"What about you?" Marshall shrugged. "So how are we going to get out?"
"I...don't know." Nara admitted. "Neo said he'll work out a way besides electrocuting us to stimulate our senses, forcing us awake by sheer pain."
"Okay guys, we have a way for you to get out." Neo's voice boomed across the dream world once again. "Just...hope it doesn't kill you."
"Kill?" Alex gulped before everything turned white.
All the Alliance members awoke with a jolt, screaming in pain from the large amounts of wattage being pumped into them by Luminous, Marcus's Electivire and many Magnemites. "It worked, chill guys, chill!" Neo grinned triumphantly as the Pokemon ceased the attack.
Everyone but Marshall, Dante, Rein and Marigold fell back to the ground. Dante immediately grabbed Neo's shirt. "Y-you...dick." He let go and collapsed back to the ground.
"Jeez, it's been awhile since I've been shocked." Marshall groaned but stood up and went to check on Nara, Luminous following. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, thanks." Nara smiled as he and Luminous helped her up. She patted the Light Pokemon's head. "Still cute." She giggled, even though she knew the real Luminous wouldn't know what she was talking about.
"Amph, Ampharos!" Luminous pouted.
"Funny,He said that he isn't cute, and He'll mess you up." Marshall laughed.
"Lexi, you're okay!" Tyson hugged the girl fiercely. "I was worried about you."
Lexi smiled slowly, though she was still in pain, and returned the hug. "I'm okay." In honesty she wasn't too sure. She eyed Aaron carefully as he laid on the floor, having gone back to sleep. After what she had seen she wasn't sure who he was anymore. Her train of thought however, was interrupted by a quick kiss Tyson planted on her lips. "Wha-?"
"I love you too." Tyson smiled at the girl before being pulled into a long kiss.
"Do I get a kiss?" Marcus asked Ember after seeing Lexi and Tyson kiss. Ember rolled her eyes and gave the boy a hug before walking away, leaving Marcus smirking. "Tier 1, you have been reached!" He then looked over to Eleanor, who was sitting in her chair quietly, clutching the arm rests tightly. He motioned for Jericho to talk to her.
Jason was trying to apologize to Arianna, but she completely ignored him, leaving him feeling guilty.
Keni gave a sigh of relief, happy to be awake. She, Alex, Marigold and Ava made sure to thank Neo for saving them.
"Hey Elm." Jacen and Jack greeted the professor.
"Hey kids." Elm greeted quickly. "Neo come look at this. I found that the Snorlax Marshall sent me was...mutated in a way."
"You wait till now to tell us?" Neo asked, a frown on his face. "What does this have to do with what happened to the others, or the missing Legends?"
"The Munna and Musharna locked your friends in a different dream world from the actual dream world." Elm took a deep breath. "I figured maybe it was just a coincidence, maybe this Snorlax was just special or something, but this Munna and Musharna have the same mutation. It's being done on deliberately."
This chapter took forever, and I'm not too pleased with the quality of it. I apologize for the super-long wait :) And I know I left like a million loose ends here but it's all good, it's for the story.
On another note, I have put up a poll on my Profile so YOU guys can decide which team you want to see in action next. :D Be sure to vote, and be sure to review! They inspire me ^^ and Inspiration is good fuel to help me get the next chap out faster!