Riolu simply could not catch a break. She had been completely exhausted by her panic attack—both mentally and physically—so she had decided to sleep despite waking up not long ago. But now, as a result of her attempt to rest, Riolu found herself in the abyss-like dream that had tormented her on her first night in the Pokémon world. This time, however, Riolu simply could not bring herself to care about some snake bugaboo in the darkness trying to scare her. She closed her eyes and tried to get the rest she so desperately needed.

Abomination.

Riolu opened her eyes just in time to see the familiar serpentine tail moving through her vision before quickly being swallowed by the darkness. The voice accusing her from the darkness had pronounced the word slowly and deliberately, and Riolu had felt the malice dripping from every syllable—though it wasn't accompanied by any actual Aura. Once she had gotten over the initial shock of hearing the voice, Riolu almost laughed to herself. Abomination? Yeah, sounds about right. If you want to scare me, try telling me something I don't know.

You should not exist.

The voice had spoken as if on cue, coinciding with a brief sighting of the tail. I guessed as much already when I saw my Aura, Riolu thought pointedly. Everything you can say I've already thought of myself.

Die.

Riolu frowned. She didn't have a retort for that. In fact, she wasn't even sure how she felt about it. Regardless, she wasn't given time to mull it over: this time, in the darkness, it wasn't a tail that she saw. Directly ahead, two tiny red eyes were locked onto her, burning with malice and disgust.

Found you.


Riolu woke with a start. She was relieved to find herself back at the camp with Dante and, after briefly checking her face, that the abyss dream hadn't caused her to cry again. More important, however, was what had awoken her in the first place—Riolu had sensed a pulse of emotion from the forest behind her. It felt like… excitement? Relief?

Riolu shifted, turning around to gaze into the forest. She saw nothing, but she kept staring. She knew she had felt something.

"Riolu?" Dante asked from behind. "What are yo—Oh," Dante interrupted himself as a dark figure pushed its way out of the underbrush.

Riolu was pleasantly surprised to see that she recognized the species of the stranger. They were a Weavile, and they held up a single clawed hand in greeting. They wore a bandana covering their nose and mouth, as well as a warm cloak covering their shoulders and chest.

"Hey!" the Weavile greeted them with a husky female voice as she pulled her bandana down around her neck with a claw, revealing a large vertical scar across her mouth. "I didn't think I would run into anyone else out here. What are ya'll doing here?"

Riolu didn't know what to make of the Weavile. On the one hand, she had just walked out of the forest with a mask and a massive scar—she looked like a bandit. On the other hand, she was being perfectly friendly and appeared genuine. Riolu remembered that dark-types were known for being exceptionally good actors and liars, but not all of them were bad Pokémon… so she was undecided.

Dante, however, seemed unfazed. "Oh, we weren't expecting anyone either," he said, standing to welcome her. "We're just investigating the nearby dungeon. How about you?"

"Weeelll," the Weavile said, cringing with embarrassment. "I got super lost while traveling, so I've really just been wandering around. I'm super relieved I didn't end up wandering into a dungeon! But wait, you said you're investigating one? Are you part of that new organization? Explorer something?"

"Explorer Coalition," Dante said. "Yes."

"Ahh, but you guys are just kids… Do they really hire kids?"

Dante shrugged in response before changing the subject. "Well, if you don't mind waiting a bit, we can guide you back to a town or something."

"Oh, that'd be great if it's no big trouble," the Weavile smiled. "It sure beats wandering around. Mind if I sit?"

"By all means."

After the Weavile had settled on one of the logs, she glanced over at Riolu. As their eyes met, Riolu felt a pulse of emotion from the Weavile. A wave of pure bloodlust washed over her, and all at once, Riolu understood the situation with clarity: this Weavile had been acting. She had arrived with the intention of gutting them both, and she was about to pounce. There was nothing Riolu could do—she was still sitting, and Weavile were known for their incredible speed and powerful claws. Even a Riolu familiar with combat likely stood no chance, and Riolu knew that as soon as the Weavile moved, she was dead.

But the Weavile never moved. Maintaining eye contact, Riolu watched as the sharpness faded from her eyes in favor of confusion. The Weavile tilted her head upwards as if sniffing the air as her eyes darted to and fro. Then, Riolu felt a pulse of fear from her as her eyes went wide. Instantly, in a single leap, the Weavile disappeared from the camp—flying into the forest faster than Riolu's eye could follow.

"Wh-what?" Dante stammered. "Where did she…?"

Without pause, Riolu sensed the strongest emotion she had felt since she gained the ability to feel Aura—even considering Dante's potent shame. From straight ahead, in the woods, she felt a constant pressure of pure conviction. This was strange and unsettling, as every emotion she had sensed thus far had been a single pulse, over in an instant.

Though she was again watching the forest for movement, Riolu saw nothing when Lann appeared in the center of the clearing. Riolu had at least been able to tell that the Weavile was moving, but it was as if Lann had teleported. Is he really that fast…?

Lann himself was nearly unrecognizable. Though he had occasionally shown sides of himself away from his typical casual and amused attitude, he always felt like Lann. Now, however, Lann's eyes were as cold as could be—his pupils reduced to alien-like slits. He kept himself low to the ground in a fighter's stance, and the spines on his right forearm, glowing with a bright green light, were significantly longer and sharper than normal.

"Who was here," Lann said flatly, his voice hard. Though his words formed a question, there was no inflection in his voice making it feel more like an order.

"A—A Weavile?" Dante squeaked, clearly afraid of the borderline feral Lann.

Lann's eyes darted to survey the surrounding forest. "Stay here," he ordered. He braced himself, then abruptly vanished—likely jumping into the forest.

Once he was gone, Riolu gasped for breath: she had been drowning in Lann's constant Aura of conviction, and it had been difficult to get enough air. Dante looked at her completely baffled. "Riolu, what's going on?"

"I think that Weavile was going to kill us," Riolu quietly explained. "I felt her bloodlust. I think Lann scared her off before she could."

Riolu felt a pulse of fear and confusion from Dante, but he did little more than sit still with a troubled expression. It seemed they both understood the situation: regardless of what was happening out in the forest, Riolu and Dante had to wait for a Pokémon to return to the clearing—whether it was Lann or the Weavile. It was likely to be Lann, and the fear that the Weavile felt before she fled was encouraging, but Weavile were dark/ice type. The dark-type meant the fear could have been an act, and the ice-type meant her attacks could be especially effective against the grass-type Lann. In the end, all they could do was have faith in Lann's strength.

The morbid tension hanging over the camp seemed impenetrable. Neither Riolu nor Dante spoke, but the worry shared between them was apparent. After an indeterminable stretch of time, Riolu and Dante alike perked up when they heard the underbrush at the edge of camp being pushed aside.

"Yo," Lann smiled as he entered the clearing. He was back to his casual self, so he simply lumbered over to a log and sat. "Thanks for staying put."

"Did you catch the Weavile?" Dante asked, relief apparent in his voice.

"Straight to business, eh? No, I didn't catch the Weavile. I couldn't fully commit to the chase because it was possible they would double back for you two—or for that matter, they could have had an accomplice. All that happened was they ran, though, so you two are safe."

"And listen," Lann continued, adopting a more genuine tone. "I generally prefer to work alone because I hate when Pokémon see my serious side. I can't make you two forget, but just do me a favor and don't gossip about it, yeah? Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get the full picture. What exactly happened before I arrived?"

Riolu figured that was her cue. She described her experience, including the emotions she felt from the Aura of the Weavile over the course of their encounter (though she left out the dream that was interrupted by Weavile's arrival and the fact that Lann's Aura was so overpowering). Dante and Lann both listened carefully as Riolu told her story.

"So, you initially thought the Weavile was excited and relieved to have found friendly faces after having been lost, which explained the emotion you felt from her just before she arrived," Lann recounted. "When it turned out she just wanted to kill you, the excitement can still make sense, but the relief becomes confusing."

"Right," Riolu confirmed. "Of course, I could have misread the emotion. I can't say I'm comfortable with this ability yet."

"It's concerning regardless," Lann said. "I'm taking command for now, by the way, Dante. I know this was meant to be your mission, but until we figure out what exactly is going on with that Weavile, I think it's best if I take charge."

Riolu was relieved to see that the idea didn't seem to set Dante's pride off. "Agreed," Dante said. "I wouldn't know where to start."

Lann nodded in acknowledgement. "First, everyone stays in camp. We're waiting for Nineteen to arrive—if that Weavile is a known outlaw, they'll probably know her. Having more Pokémon here will also give us more options."

"What if Nineteen is attacked on the way? We still don't know where the Weavile went," Dante reminded him.

"While we could go out and try to intercept Nineteen while they travel, we'd have to leave the dungeon alone and I'm not quite willing to do that. Besides, both Nineteen and their translator are far from pushovers."

Dante frowned. He was obviously bothered, but he didn't try to raise an issue.

"OK. You two have the rest of the day off, but do try to rest. The future is unpredictable," Lann said as he shifted in place on the log, reclining in a particularly large sunbeam.

With that, the conversation was over. Riolu wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do with her time. She was still exhausted, perhaps even more so now that she was coming down from the adrenaline spike from the encounter with the Weavile. However, she didn't really feel like sleeping and risking returning to the nightmare. Come to think of it, what was that nightmare? I've had it twice now, and it never feels like a normal dream. She cast a glance over at Dante.

Dante's posture had relaxed a bit, and he was gazing off into the forest, apparently deep in thought. "Hey Dante," Riolu said, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing Lann. "Are there Pokémon that can give you nightmares?"

"Hm?" Dante said, turning to Riolu. "Oh. Yeah, a handful of them can. Have you been having more nightmares? I remember you had one your first night."

"Yeah," Riolu confirmed. She was omitting that she'd only had two, but she wanted Dante to take her seriously. "I keep seeing a strange creature in them, so I wanted to know if it could be a Pokémon."

Dante frowned in response. "If I recall correctly, the Pokémon giving you nightmares doesn't necessarily control the contents, let alone appear in them—with one exception. Hold on," he said, walking over to where Riolu had last left his satchel. After digging through it, he took out the book Riolu hadn't finished yet—the black book containing the list of known Pokémon and their evolution chains.

Returning to his seat, Dante briefly paged through the very back of the book before settling on a page and showing it to Riolu. "Is this who you've been seeing?" he asked.

The Pokémon featured in the entry, named Darkrai, could best be described as a living shadow. Though it had other attributes—such as its white flowing hair-like crown and large red collar—its body was primarily constituted of a dark substance that seemed borderline incorporeal. The expressive drawing's stark blue eyes seemed to radiate intelligence out of the page.

Although there were quite a few footprint runes that Riolu didn't recognize off the top of her head, she was able to read bits and pieces of the entry about Darkrai. Apparently, Darkrai were unfathomably rare and powerful Pokémon, known for having a strong connection to sleep, dreams, and nightmares—to the point that it has been speculated that Darkrai can literally inhabit others' dreams. It was certainly interesting, but Darkrai was not the Pokémon she had seen.

"No, that's not it. Can I see that book? I'll skim the rest of it."

"Sure," Dante said, handing the book over. Riolu awkwardly paged through what she hadn't already read, only stopping on each entry for long enough to look at the main drawing. She made it the vast majority of the way through the book before she finally found exactly what she was looking for.

A perfect rendition of the snake-creature in her dreams was staring back at Riolu. As she had seen, its tail had a series of large, gold-colored spikes across either side. The same gold-colored material formed a strange crown-like mask obscuring most of its face, as well as a rib-cage-like armor surrounding its upper torso. Although it was limbless, it sported six large tendrils on its back formed from a darkness visually similar to Darkrai's body. Most convincing that Riolu had seen this creature in her dreams, however, was its eyes: the same tiny, red, hateful eyes she had seen just before waking up.

Once Riolu stopped flipping through the book to stare at the image, Dante quietly moved to her side to see what she found. "…Giratina?" he said curiously. "You've been seeing Giratina in your dreams?"

"He's always in the shadows, so I've only seen his tail and his eyes, but they're pretty distinct."

"He…?" Dante echoed, confused.

"Uh, yeah. The voice sounded male, at least."

"Giratina talked to you?" Dante whispered as he exuded a wave of shock. "Riolu, Giratina is a Legendary. He is the concept of separate dimensions, meaning that there's exactly one of him and he is immortal. He's a god. This is important—what did he say?"

All at once, Riolu realized three things. First, if she shared what Giratina had said, the conversation would turn to why exactly a god thought Riolu was an abomination—and then perhaps to what she had seen in her Aura. Second, she had to avoid that at all costs. Third, it was far too late for her to gracefully back out—Dante was excited now, and he was hungry for an answer.

"I—uhh—I thought you said Darkrai were the only type of Pokémon that could control dreams?" Riolu stuttered, desperate for a distraction.

"The rules for Legendaries are different," Dante explained hurriedly. "Please—what did he say?"

"Dante," Lann interjected, catching their attention. His eyes were still closed as he basked in the sun, and his voice came across as detached and uninterested. "She clearly doesn't want to talk about it, and it's her choice whether to share. I'm sure that if it was important for us to know, she would tell us."

"Oh," Dante said, appearing confused. "Sorry, I… didn't realize." After a short pause, Riolu felt a sharp pang of shame and hurt from him.

Riolu didn't know what to say, so she simply didn't. Eventually, Dante returned to his seat across the fire. Riolu knew she probably should feel bad considering Dante was hurt by her refusal to share, but all she could bring herself to feel was relief—relief that she wouldn't have to revisit or reveal Giratina's words. She pushed the memory out of her mind and returned to where she left off in the book, with her trusty translation guide at her side. Soon, all that remained in her mind was interest and excitement for the world of Pokémon.

As she made her way through the remainder of the book, Riolu eventually found herself reading about mythical and Legendary Pokémon. Apparently, long ago, there was very little discernable difference between mythical and Legendary Pokémon from the perspective of the general population. As a result, the definitions became muddied. However, in modern times, the definitions were formalized: mythical Pokémon are exceedingly rare and powerful but still a mortal species, whereas Legendary refers to singular entities—the gods of the Pokémon world. When Riolu made it to Giratina's entry, she flat out skipped it: she had no interest in reminders, and while learning about the literal god who apparently had it out for her was probably a good idea at some point, that was future Riolu's problem.

As the sun came down, Riolu finally finished reading about the final Legendary, and thus finished the book. Just like that, Riolu had a chance to remember and recognize any Pokémon she came across—and all it took her was two full days of reading. Regardless, it felt immensely satisfying, and Riolu was happy that she would be a bit less lost in this world.

Riolu packed the book along with her translation guide back into Dante's satchel. Just after she returned to her seat and began wondering if she should have started one of the remaining books before it got too dark, an extremely strange sight entered the clearing from the evening forest.

A Kangaskhan lumbered forward, flashing a large smile in greeting. Although Kangaskhan were known to carry their young in their kangaroo-like pouch, inside this particular pouch was a Starmie—its beautiful, red jewel peeking just over the lip.

"Aaaaalright," the Kangaskhan sighed as she hefted the Starmie out of the pouch and placed it on the forest floor. "We're here. Hi Lann, Dante. Oho, and Riolu, right? Everyone's been looking all over camp for you, hoping to meet a dimension hopper. I had no idea you were off-site."

"They're really looking for me to that degree?" Riolu asked. "I was hoping it wouldn't be that bad…"

"Ah, I'm exaggerating," the Kangaskhan smiled. "Don't you worry about it. They do want to see you, but it's not like the forming search parties. Anyways, good to meet you. You can call me Denver."

"Welcome to our little camp," Lann said, giving a tired smile as he opened his eyes for, as far as Riolu was aware, the first time in hours. "How was the trip?"

"Fine, I guess? Weather was nice. Not much to speak of."

"Good, because we had an interesting development. Sit down, get comfortable. When you two are ready, we'll describe a possible outlaw for you."

The Starmie, who Riolu assumed was Nineteen, had already waddled over to find a place to stand at the campfire. Denver shrugged and lowered herself onto a log, which groaned and threatened to give out under her weight. Once Denver had settled, Nineteen's gem flashed a single time.

"OK, we're ready," Denver said.

Lann nodded towards Riolu. "Go ahead and describe her."

Riolu quickly described the Weavile, sticking to physical descriptors. She mentioned the scar across her lip, her cloak and mask, and even described her relatively deep, husky voice. Riolu was considering beginning to describe the Weavile's behavior, but she went quiet when Nineteen's gem began rapidly flashing.

Denver watched the flashing gem intently and began translating real-time: "'You're describing a known outlaw by the name of Isle. She's been active in a wide region for nearly a decade, and she has only ever been implicated in seemingly unrelated and premeditated killings. For this reason, Isle is speculated to be an assassin for hire.'"

Riolu felt her heart drop. When Isle gave off the pulse of bloodlust, she was looking directly at Riolu. It wasn't a random encounter: Riolu was her target. Even worse, her assassin had gotten away—meaning that she would be back to try again.

Lann clicked his tongue. "That fits perfectly with what happened, unfortunately. You said you were maintaining eye contact when you felt bloodlust from her, Riolu?"

Riolu nodded slowly. "I'm the target."

"Yes," Lann confirmed. "And the excitement and relief she felt when she arrived must have been the result of having finally found her target."

"Hold on a minute," Denver interjected. "You all had a close call with Isle? Is that what I'm hearing?"

As Lann brought the two newcomers up to speed, Riolu stood and stumbled to sit down against a tree at the very edge of camp. She wanted to get away from everyone for a moment. She'd barely even done anything in this world: who would even know about her, let alone care enough to pay for an assassination? Was it possible that a member of the Explorer Coalition saw the bulletin and arranged a hit? They were the only Pokémon even aware of her.

Riolu shivered as a more insidious thought occurred to her. There was one more possibility: whoever had taken her memories and sent her to this world. It made sense that whoever they were, they were in the Pokémon world: despite how advanced human technology was, Riolu could remember nothing on the level of memory modification or dimension hopping. But why bring her here just to kill her?

Riolu's thoughts were interrupted by a clawed, orange foot entering her vision. She looked up to see Dante standing over her. "You okay?" he asked, his voice low.

Riolu's eyes flitted over to the rest of the group. All three of them were still deep in conversation and, for the time being, ignoring Riolu. "I just don't understand anything," Riolu said. "At all."

"I don't either. But you know what? We have some of the strongest and smartest Pokémon on the continent here," he said, gesturing towards the group. "We'll figure it out, and you're safe in the meantime."

Riolu considered his words before nodding. "OK."

Dante gave a short nod before he rejoined the group at the campfire. Riolu couldn't deny that she was feeling a lot better than moments before. Dante was right: she was safe as long as Lann was nearby.


Despite her trust in the security Lann was providing, Riolu was still awake and worried an hour after the sun had set. Lann could keep her safe from physical threats, but there was nothing he could do about Giratina haunting her dreams. Now that the shadow-snake had a name—and the name of a god, no less—Riolu was a lot less willing to risk seeing it again.

Riolu surveyed the clearing. The sleeping bodies of Riolu's company were reduced to little more than dark shapes in the flickering light of the campfire—save for Dante, who was curled up such that his tail-flame illuminated his face. Nineteen's gem lazily pulsed with dim light—Riolu wondered if it was a Starmie's equivalent of snoring.

Riolu wasn't the only one awake, however. Lann had volunteered to stay on watch for the night, so Riolu knew that despite his stillness, Lann was awake. This would be his second straight night without sleep, but he had insisted he was perfectly fine. Screw it, Riolu thought as she rose to her feet. If we're both going to be awake anyways, I may as well ask some questions. Riolu approached Lann and sat next to him on the log.

"Can't sleep?" Lann asked once Riolu had settled, his eyes reflecting the light of the campfire as he looked down to her.

Riolu simply shook her head.

"Scared of Giratina?"

Riolu started. She had forgotten that she told them of Giratina in her dreams, even if she didn't share the details. Regardless, Lann had guessed correctly—Riolu nodded.

"Hmm," Lann hummed. "Did you read Giratina's entry in that book?"

"I skipped it. I didn't want to think about him."

"Well, then maybe this will help. A long, long time ago, Giratina was banished from this dimension. As a result, he cannot directly affect anything in it—meaning that regardless of how powerful Giratina is, the dreams he gives you will only ever be dreams. They may be horrifying, but they cannot hurt you."

Riolu gave a tired smile. "That helps a little, actually. Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome," Lann said, turning back to gaze into the fire.

"So, do you not need to rest?" Riolu asked. "This'll be your second night without sleep."

"I do need sleep in general," Lann began, his eyes still on the fire. "But I don't need much right now, for the same reason I knew something was wrong the instant I left the dungeon this morning. As a Sceptile, I have a special connection with forests and jungles, and the energy they hold. Among other things, I can rely on this energy to require less sleep, and to essentially amplify my senses. You could visualize it as me being in my element."

"Oh, that's amazing," Riolu said. "I don't think the entries for Sceptile or grass-type mentioned anything remotely like that."

"It's very rare, even just among Sceptiles."

Riolu nodded, considering the new information. More and more things about that morning were beginning to make sense, though this new information raised a question she hadn't even considered.

"So, if you only knew something was wrong because of this special ability you have, how did Isle know you were coming? She knew before I even felt your Aura."

A wide smile crept across Lann's face in the dim light. "Aha, now you're asking the correct questions," he said. "How did a distracted Pokémon out of her natural habitat and with no inherent special sensory ability sense me before I was remotely in the area? Personally, I have no idea—but I can't wait to find out."

"You think we'll figure it out? I don't just mean how Isle knew you were coming, but everything that's going on with me. If I learned anything today, it's that there's a whole hell of a lot that I don't understand."

"We're certainly going to try, Riolu. But yes, I think we'll figure it out. There's very few things in this world that can't be uncovered with enough determination."

"OK. Thank you, Lann." Riolu smiled. At least she had found some people—or Pokémon, rather—that she liked being around. She relaxed her body against the log and simply stared at the night sky. She couldn't remember enough about the stars in the human world to know if the constellations were different, but it didn't really matter to her: it was beautiful regardless.