Cody: Bastion (Wartortle), Antonia (Skarmory), Mars (Diglett), Cortez (Lampent), Reflet (Eevee), Venipede

Heather: Somnos (Poliwhirl), Feathers (Pidgeotto), Nadine (Nidorina), Bella (Gloom), Sasha (Eevee), Crescent (Lunatone)

Chapter 51: From Dusk till Dawn

He dreamt of a field. An endless field with grass that reached his waist. It was warm, save the cool breeze that kissed his cheek. And in his dream, he slept in the center of this field. The nights when he could just relax; those were what he needed the most, and those nights were far and few between. Though lately, he preferred the nights when he didn't have any real dreams at all.

And that night wouldn't be one of those nights. He could feel it.

"Hmmmmmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmmmm-hmmmmm."

The breeze carried the hum.

"Hmmmmmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm-hmmmm hmm hmm hmm"

It was the tune of "Dream a Little Dream of Me."

"Hmmm hmm-"

"Okay, enough with the horror movie bullshit. I know it's you." He stood up in the field to see a monochrome Cody staring back at him with piercing eyes.

"Not so happy to see me? Didn't you miss me?"

"Sure, I miss you like I miss chicken pox." He held up his hands as if to surrender. "I know I can't do anything about this. So, do what you're gonna do. I won't stop you. Not like I can."

"You're right. You can't stop me. But that's not the problem here. You accepting the punishment does little if I can't break the resistance up there," the dark one said, pointing at Cody's head.

"And beating me up in my dreams every night will?" Cody asked, incredulously. That would stress him out, sure. It would make him tired, angsty, irritable, depressed. And he knew that the dark being had broke others that way.

"Not every night. Going too fast, too hard; that doesn't work. I know from experience. But…" In a swift motion, he stepped forward and swung at Cody so quickly that even with lucid dreaming, he couldn't react quick enough. Darkrai put limitations on his abilities within his dreams.

"... That your best shot?" Cody taunted, although he was on the ground, bleeding.

"Hardly. I am the emissary of nightmares, and I know that there is so much more beyond the use of brute force." He knelt beside Cody, who seemed to have been paralyzed. "I've been alive for longer than you can comprehend. I've seen both humans and pokémon do horrific things. And I can remember it all. Maybe you can too. Perhaps knowing the state of this broken universe can help you understand why somebody such as myself is necessary."

"Wait, what?"

Darkrai didn't answer that question. "It's amazing what I can pick up from this world. I can access the memories of those who I've broken, as if they were my own. I could show them to you too. In fact, there was one girl who I marked long ago... she was living in the ghettos of Thailand. She was beaten by her parents, starved for no reason, and neglected to a degree you would bind disturbing. But that was all before she was ten. That was when she was sold by her father to a human trafficking ring. From there… well, I might as well just show you."

"You're a monster," Cody replied, but Darkrai only chuckled.

"I'm no monster. Only a historian. I take no pleasure in what happened to that girl. It was cruel, showing the darkest depths of your species. But if I can use it to break you, so be it. You'll soon find out that as perverse a vision I can create from scratch, the real nightmares are the ones you experience when you're awake." The dark one extended his hand and placed it on his victim's head. "Consider yourself fortunate that you may never experience this pain. And consider that by helping me, you will not have died in vain as she had."

Then, the vision began.

He really wanted to sleep. Following those awful nightmares the night before, a nap would have been nice. No such luck, however. He had woken up at 4 A.M., drank the strongest blend of coffee he had on him, and then the day began. A day of hiking and battling mostly. In addition to his regular training, he found time to battle six different trainers in three versus three matches. That was a good number of battles for one day, but he lost half of them. That was pretty discouraging; usually, when he battled trainers at his level, he had a pretty good record, winning more than half his battles, but that day was not a good day. Granted, one of those matches he lost was because of the Venipede, but still, not a good day. At first, he thought that maybe his losses were due Colossal's absence, but that wasn't it either. Even on days when he was giving his Pupitar time to overcome a minor injury, he still performed well. If there was any consolation, it was that Reflet was responsible for one of his wins, taking out a Slowpoke and a Mightyena in the same fight. Good day for her, but not for her trainer.

If he could, he would have suggested that they set up camp early, but that night, it would have been suicide. There was a Trevenant infestation in the central Skitrexian forests, so they traveled until they reached a town. Even then, he couldn't sleep. He had too much to do and too little daylight to do it during.

The motel they got for the night had an open space with picnic tables and charcoal grills in the courtyard. Heather was busy grilling burgers, Brooke was grooming Goro and Kisses, and Cody was taking care of his and Heather's pokémon, one by one. The tiny town that they had rolled into had no pokémon center, so Cody took it upon himself to check their pokémon for injuries. He was no doctor or nurse, but he could help with the little things. He had finally reached Reflet, his last patient. She hadn't taken much damage that he wasn't able to help with earlier, but in that moment, she was lying on her back as her trainer held her foot in his hand as he moved her leg back and forth at the hip and knee joints. The Eevee would occasionally whimper, but she powered through it.

"Rough day?" Brooke asked as she ran the brush through her Pancham's fur. The little bear wouldn't sit still, so she had to hold him steady with her other hand. Her question was rhetorical. She knew he hadn't slept well and that he was having an off day, battle-wise.

"You bet," Cody replied somberly. "Heather, how much longer we got?"

"A few minutes. Are my pokémon okay?"

"Of course!" he replied. "But Nadine's got some kinks in her back. You'll definitely want to get that looked at." He turned back to Reflet and kept exercising her leg, much to the Eevee's despair.

"What are you doing there?" Brooke asked, curious.

"Last fight she was in, she started limping. That Mightyena was a bit brutal and she must have tweaked her leg. Nothing too bad, but I figure it's best to work on it now before it gets worse. If she's still limping tomorrow, I'll have it looked at, but she'll be okay."

"Wow. You ever think about becoming a nurse or a doctor or something?"

"I assume you mean for pokémon, right?" he chuckled as he kept rotating the Eevee's joints. "It has crossed my mind. I actually took a brief seminar over the summer about pokémon first aid for trainers. It was a good course and I got this book out of it," he said while motioning to the guidebook he had open on the table. "I think every trainer should take those classes, honestly. Thing is, becoming a pokémon nurse is rigorous. Unless you're specialized, you have to be versed in the biology of every pokémon there is, and that's not even including sub-species, individual pokémon temperament or anything like that. Like, what if I had to perform some sort of treatment on a Slugma?" He looked over at Heather. "Please, don't catch a Slugma. If you do, you're on your own."

"Gotcha," his friend said, giving him a thumbs up, but not turning away from the grill.

"I think you're selling yourself short," Brooke replied. "You love pokémon and you're pretty good at this basic stuff. Why not-"

"Not being in school kinda sucks for that reason," Cody continued. "I'm not in a classical training program or anything, so I'm missing out on general education. I'm going to take the equivalency exam in a few years, and with that, I could get into college, but unless I do well enough as a trainer to get scholarships, I'm probably not going to get into a school that has that focus on pokémon in general without paying off the loans for the next century." He shook his head. "It's a nice thought, but I'm not banking on it yet. If the trainer thing doesn't work out, I'll need a backup plan."

"Fair enough," Brooke sighed, now brushing her Smoochum's hair.

"There you go, all done." Cody released his grip, allowing his Eevee to stand up and give him a quick lick on the cheek. She still favored her leg slightly, but she already looked better. "And you did a great job today."

"She did," Brooke affirmed, taking a moment from brushing her pokémon's hair to pet the Eevee's fluffy chest. "When is she going to evolve?"

"Whenever I find a stone?" he answered with a brief laugh.

"You could have gotten one in Ashlin. The gym-"

"Yes, I know what the gym does," he sighed. He could have taken the fire stone for his Eevee like Heather did, but he chose not to and went with the TM instead. It wasn't that he wouldn't be okay with having a Flareon, but since he already had a fire-type, he'd rather try his luck elsewhere. Taking out his field book, he turned to the Eevee page as he had done many times before. "Says here that Eevee evolve in one of two ways. You can either force an evolution with the use of a stone, or the Eevee will evolve naturally, depending on the environments it's exposed to. Eevee that live on beaches will often evolve into a Vaporeon, or those who live in the tundra will evolve into a Glaceon." He held out a piece of kibble for his pup to eat as he contemplated his options. "Wild Eevee in Skitrex will typically evolve into Glaceon or Leafeon, depending on where they live. We spend so much time in the woods that I wouldn't be surprised if she became a Leafeon. Though once winter hits…" Truth be told, he didn't care what his Eevee evolved into. That being said, there were some definitely evolutions he preferred over others.

[Contemplation over trivial matters is not but a distraction from the inevitable reality that we shall return to the dust we hath come from.]

The young trainer felt his eyes widen and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He knew that Heather's cooky Lunatone was floating behind him. The miniature moon pokémon made no noise as it floated, but Cody could feel the psychic vibrations that Crescent emitted as it bobbed up and down behind him. Speechless, he said nothing until the Lunatone floated elsewhere.

"I can't stand that thing," he whispered to Brooke so that Heather couldn't hear him.

"What? Why?" Brooke questioned. "I like it. It talks like a poet. It's kinda endearing."

"Please, I don't think that thing knows what it's saying half the time," Cody shot back. "But it's not just Crescent. I can't stand psychic-types in general."

"Excuse me?" Brooke pulled her Smoochum into her arms and hugged the wiggling pokémon to her chest. "You don't like Kisses either?"

"No, Kisses is fine because she can't talk yet. I'm talking about the ones who invade your thoughts and-"

"So you hate telepathy?" Brooke asked, confused, trying to narrow down the complaint.

"No… Maybe? I just constantly feel that psychic-types are trying to get into your mind or something. Doesn't help that they're either creepy or snarky. Or both." He thought back to that Mr. Mime that belonged to that Frank guy from the Brotherhood or his father's Hypno. Good lord, was that Hypno the creepiest pokémon on earth. "And it doesn't help that they're so damn smart."

"I think you're being paranoid," Brooke said, the blonde's eyebrow rising as she made the accusation. "Besides, smart? What about that Lampent of yours? Cortez is super smart and he's way more trouble than any psychic-type I've ever known."

"Yes, and it's a wonder I even put up with…" It was then that a wave of sleepiness hit him like a truck. He forced himself to sit up straight. "Yeesh, that was sudden."

"You know…" Brooke began cautiously, "I know you don't sleep well and all, but you've looked like you've been out of it most of today. You sure everything's okay?"

"Everything's fine," he lied. "Do we have any pot left?"

"Sure, but… Cody, maybe you should sleep in the bed tonight? It would probably beat sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag."

That did sound nice. Whenever they got a room at a pokémon center, Cody would love getting one of the bunk beds that they had available. But motels typically had two beds, so he found himself sleeping on the floor so that he wouldn't bother anybody with his night terrors. Even then, he'd still wake people up. A bed sounded nice, but he shook his head.

"No, I won't make either of you sleep on the floor," he answered.

"I'm not saying I'd sleep on the floor. Share one with me."

That took the younger trainer by surprise. He looked into Brooke's beautiful, gray eyes and could tell she was serious. He had erased sharing a bed from his list of possibilities, as he had never done it on the road before, save the few times he shared one with Jared until the nightmares got worse. But now, she was inviting him in. That sounded amazing. Obviously, he probably wouldn't even be able to make it to second base with Heather in the room, but that didn't bother him. Just sharing a bed with Brooke was an awesome step. But he shook his head again.

"I don't know if Heather would-"

"Heather won't care," Brooke cut him off, "and if she does, so what? Maybe, you'd sleep a little better if you were close to me." She put Smoochum back on the picnic table and moved closer to him.

"I'd probably wake you up. I-"

"I don't care," she whispered into his ear.

The sensation of her breath touching his ear was immaculate, strong as that word was. He was about to take her up on the offer, but what she said next really took him off guard,

"You can tell me what's going on. You can trust me."

He didn't know what to make of that. Could he trust her? He wanted to say "yes", but then he remembered how little she knew about him. Those few secrets that he kept to himself… hell, even Heather only knew a little bit about the Darkrai stuff, despite her pleading to know more.

"I don't want to talk about this."

Before Brooke could say another word, Cody stood up and walked away. He wouldn't go too far, considering the food was almost ready, but he needed out of that conversation. But he didn't know what was worse: hiding something from Brooke or telling her things that might make her think he was crazy. Either way, he was kicking himself for not taking her up on her offer. If Laurence were there, he'd probably smack him across the face again.

"You're right. You can't trust her."

"What? You again?"

The setting was an island in the middle of a large river, which cut the flowing water in half just by sitting there. Darkrai was back again, same form, same evil smile.

"I thought I wouldn't see you beyond just a glimpse," Cody admitted.

"Wrong! You expect too much. I can come and go as I please, you know."

"Great, what's it gonna be tonight? Another horror movie? I've seen horror movies in real life, you know."

"Was last night really just a horror movie, little Cody?"

He wasn't wrong. The vision of the past was far beyond any horror movie Cody had watched. Horror movies didn't have what he had witnessed. And the end of that vision was essentially a snuff film. Cody was able to push the dream from his mind during the day, but he couldn't forget it. Luckily, it didn't feel so real when he experienced it, but knowing it was real made him feel sick.

"I could show you something better. Maybe I'll give you a choice tonight. What would you prefer? The man who was burned for witchcraft after professing my presence or the woman who I got locked up in an institution? The latter is a little tamer, but hey, she's still alive. Maybe that would be more poignant."

"Wait, hold on, you said that I couldn't trust Brooke. You mean-"

"You know EXACTLY what I mean," Darkrai interrupted, upset with his target for changing the subject. "Do you think she would have any interest in you if you told her about this?"

"She knows already that I sleep like shit. She already asks me about it," Cody pointed out. "I could tell her. I mean, she's really good at picking up bullshit. If I told her everything, she'd know I was telling the truth, right?"

"Wrong. Like Heather, she will only believe that you believe in it and nothing more." Darkrai answered flatly. "So no, you can do nothing. She won't believe it's real. Do you think that you'll sound any more sane to her just because she likes you? If your friend, Heather, won't believe you, what makes you think you can convince this girl who you barely just met?"

"I… I…" Cody was at a loss for words, but Darkrai picked up the slack.

"Let me remind you how alone you really are," it continued, his voice filling with irritation. "Neither of your companions will understand. Heather is too rational and Brooke is would think you're crazy. Who else do you have? Your parents? One word to them and they'll pull you back home. Your friend, the jock? Do you really think you could trust a friend who won't even travel with you? What about your other friends? Would they believe it? Your pokémon are a non-factor, as none of them have the capacity to understand the situation, save your Lampent, but how the hell could he help you, even if he wanted to? There's only one person who can help you and she's not coming back."

He knew who the dark one was talking about. "Where is Stella, by the way? I-"

"Busy trying to foil my plans, as usual. Luckily, she's wasting her time. She's trying to get through to my latest prospect, but I don't want him onboard. I'd rather work with you."

"With me? What do you-"

He couldn't get another word out. Darkrai slammed his left palm against Cody's head and another vision began.

Another day, another nameless motel in what might as well have been a nameless town. At least the town in question had a pokémon center, but the facility was so small that they were forced to sleep in another motel. While she preferred it to camping, Brooke sometimes wished that Cody and Heather were a little stingy about where they slept. That being said, since she was chipping in, it was better that they were buying cheap. Eventually, there was a chance that they'd be curious where she was getting all of her money from, but she could fabricate another gambling excursion if need be. Would they believe it though… Even if she could lie with the best of them, being a good liar didn't mean shit if the story was too farfetched.

At the empty battle plot near the motel, she rested on a bench and looked over at Cody as he ran drills, clutching Goro tightly so he wouldn't jump into the fray. She wanted another one of the brownies she had stashed away, but she didn't feel up to it; not when Cody was acting the way he did.

"Again!" Cody ordered.

"HAW HAW HAW!" His Lampent was hovering about twenty feet above the plot, but the pokémon began to laugh, smoke billowing out of his mouth.

"I swear to Arceus, you're giving me a lot of sass today!" he shouted back.

The shiny Venipede sat on the other side of Brooke's bench, disinterested as usual. Cody had brought his Lampent, Venipede, and Eevee out to train, as none of them had seen any action that day. Without any other trainers available, he had them running drills, though he had some limitations, considering that Cortez often chose not to listen and the Venipede… well, he never listened.

It had been a pretty normal day thus far: get up, walk northward through the woods, battle a few trainers, keep walking north, and so on. From what she had picked up, Cody had a better day of battling than he had the previous day, but he was on edge nonstop. That was the abnormal part of the day. He looked exhausted, but he wouldn't slow down for a second. Even when they got to the motel in the late afternoon, both girls urged him to get some sleep, but he was too high strung. Brooke suspected that he was soon either going to crash and burn or have some sort of emotional breakdown.

What the hell is causing this? Maybe he could use a brownie.

"I said again!"

"Haw!" This time, Cortez complied. The golden Lampent spun around, showering embers over the battle plot. The little Eevee began darting about, dodging the embers before they could hit her. She kept this up for a minute until Cortez finally ran out of fire to spew. Either that, or he got bored. And Reflet hadn't been burned once.

"So, what is this supposed to accomplish?" Brooke asked, standing up and approaching the rusted railing that surrounded the plot. The more Goro squirmed, the tighter she clutched him so that he wouldn't get onto the field.

"Evasion," he said, jerking towards facing her in a quick motion. "It's all about playing to her strengths. She's fast and fragile, so she's a glass cannon… Well, minus the cannon part, really. So, gotta improve her speed. Her strongest move is Take Down, so as long as she can dodge every hit that's thrown at her, she can keep getting big hits until there's nothing left. Even if she evolves into something slower, it's still good practice. That's why I have her swim, even though she may never be a Vaporeon. Cross training. You gotta cross train everybody." He said that all quickly before downing another gulp of water from his bottle. "We gotta run it again. Practice makes perfect."

"She already did it several times without getting hit," Brooke said as she gazed over at the fluffy Eevee that patiently awaited her next orders. Like her trainer, she seemed to have energy to burn. "I think she's got it down."

"No harm in drilling again. And maybe if she keeps doing it, the enthusiasm will rub off on him," Cody said, pointing over at his shiny-brown Venipede, who was fast asleep on the bench. "I don't get it. Heather's Venipede warmed up to her already. Why won't-"

"I think you need a break," Brooke interrupted, touching his hand. Her touch seemed to slow him down just a little bit and his eyes softened slightly. "You can't keep this up."

"No… I have to keep training. I have to get these guys up to speed. I have to keep training or I'm going to lose hard to the next gym."

"What do you mean? You creamed the Ashlin gym," Brooke reminded him. "Even if that girl wasn't the greatest gym leader, you-"

"My team just lost one of its linchpins," Cody reminded her. "Colossal wasn't my best pokémon; that title clearly belongs to Antonia. But he was dependable. I could always count on him to get one or two wins in a battle. Plus, he was tanky as all hell, but who do I have now? My three top monsters right now are Bastion, Antonia, and Elesa. All three of them are reliable, safe picks. That leaves three spots to wildcards at best, weak links at worst."

I…" Brooke cocked her head. "I really don't get what you're talking about. Your other pokémon are good too."

"You're right, but they aren't reliable," Cody reiterated, almost agitated that she didn't get it. "Mars listens, and he's strong and fast, but unless he's willing to cooperate with two potential Diglett in a future Dugtrio, he's not as strong or as fast as he could be. Plus, he's even more of a glass cannon that Reflet now, because she can at least shake off a few more hits. Cortez is talented and smart, but he's an asshole. Every once in awhile, he'll stop taking the battle seriously and just refuse to listen. I already explained Reflet's weaknesses, and the Venipede...well, that goes without saying. So going into my sixth badge battle, I'm bringing in my top three, probably Cortez by default, and the other two… well, somebody's gotta step up."

He had really thought things through, which shouldn't have been a surprise. While Brooke knew that Cody was willing to act recklessly without a thought at times, she also knew that he was also an obsessive planner, given enough time to look ahead.

"Also, considering that Colossal was a rock-type, I'm losing that resistance against normal-types," he added.

"But Antonia… she's a steel-type," Brooke pointed out. "That's a resistance? And your Lampent-"

"Elemental specialists always have strategies for overcoming opponents who have a typing advantage," he interrupted. "Sometimes, it's through a pokémon of a different element. When I challenged for the Terra badge, I had to fight a Cacturne in a rock and ground-type gym. But they'll also have counters within their element as well, especially at a normal-type gym. Normal-types are probably the most diverse of any element, so they'll have options for steel and ghost-types. Hell, they can resist ghost moves themselves. They'd have ways to fight rock-types as well, but it's still a resistance I lose. Doesn't help that the Crystal Cliff gym has some of the smartest trainers defending the badge."

Brooke blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, you've been there. You fought the gym. Didn't you notice any similarities among the trainers?" he challenged.

She thought to herself. Her multiple attempts at the badge seemed so long ago and she had a difficult time remembering any particular battle, save the one she actually managed to win. She definitely couldn't remember the trainers either.

"I don't know. I guess they were kind of preppy?" She guessed with a shrug. "But that's kind of the feel I got from the whole town."

"Exactly." Cody took another drink of water before continuing. "You've heard of 'classical training', no?"

She had heard that term from Cody the day before, but before she could say anything, Cody continued.

"The Crystal Cliffs Academy is a classical training school. In addition to a top-notch general education, it provides a 'classical training' battle program. I mean, most high schools offer battling as an optional class or an extracurricular, but schools like these are intense. Trainers are given opportunities to rigorously train with gifted instructors, they get access to pokémon from across the world from the best breeders, and they get flown around the region to special training events, tournaments, and badge battles. I can't remember the statistic, but at that school, nearly all the students get all twelve badges and enter Diamond Beach, and all of them get into good colleges later on. Hell, even if a guy who went to that school didn't want to have a pokémon related career, you know how good that looks on a résumé if you have good grades at one of the most prestigious schools in the region and you have all twelve badges? You'd have to be pretty smart to get that far."

Brooke figured that Cody must have been doing his research on the subject. "Know your enemy" was always his focus when going against tough trainers.

"You ever consider going there? Or somewhere like that?" she asked. He seemed to know a lot about the subject.

"I would have loved that," he admitted sullenly, looking down at his feet, "but no dice. For one, my grades were pretty average in school, so at a place like that, I'd struggle to keep up with the curriculum. But the biggest reason why I could never go is that it's an expensive program. You have to be, like, a millionaire to go there. They give out scholarships to the children of high-profile trainers and to a few kids who impress them enough otherwise, but I was never that lucky and my family could never afford it."

"Oh… well, that sucks," Brooke sympathized bluntly. It was too bad. In her mind, Cody would have probably done well there. Perhaps he would have been out of trouble with the Brotherhood as well as he probably never would have made contact with them.

"Hey, hope's not lost," He said, smiling weakly through his weary expression. "I mean, that Daryl guy who won Diamond Beach this year, he wasn't classically trained. And Martin Hornsby, he's one of the toughest gym leaders in Skitrex and he learned how to battle the same way I did: by traveling and battling everybody he met."

"HAW!"

His Lampent had floated down and laughed loudly, just because he wanted to startle everybody. Both humans jumped at the sudden noise, Reflet crawled between Cody's legs, Goro popped out of Brooke's arms and onto the ground, ready to fight, and even the Venipede woke up.

"Well, those guys probably also got sleep," Brooke pointed out, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'm worried. You won't talk to me, you won't sleep; you need to rest. You seem a little less agitated now, so maybe-"

"No… My mind is still racing. I might as well use this time to practice." He leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead. "You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

She didn't know how to respond. How could she? This was the big mystery that Cody had hidden away. Even before Heather had told her, she already knew from her briefings that Cody had issues with the Brotherhood. He didn't know that she knew that, but Heather did. So, maybe Heather would be her option to figure out this other secret? Because something was telling her that this wasn't just some sort of undiagnosed mental illness. He almost reminded her of her older sister, they way he was acting, but she wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet.

"Okay," she responded with a little smile, holding back both her frustration and fear for him. Picking up the squirming Goro, she began walking back to the motel, leaving him to train. She needed to think about the whole situation and what to do next. But once she saw Heather heading over towards the battle plot, she decided to move into action.

"Hey," she greeted, forcing a big smile.

"Hi," Heather replied, the brunette returning her smile with an obviously fake one of her own. "Is Cody still over there? I figured maybe we could do a practice battle or something."

"He is, but it wouldn't be a fair fight," Brooke said, looking back over at Cody, who was having Reflet running the Lampent drill again. "He's a little bit… I don't know, hopped up and fatigued at the same time?"

"Yeah, that's Cody for you," Heather sighed, looking a little frustrated herself. "I've been trying to crack that nut for a while now, but I got nothing."

"He's like this a lot, isn't he?" Brooke asked. She had seen bits of this behavior from him before, but not to the extent of that day.

"Off and on. It's why I tried to get him to go to a therapist once and awhile, but-"

"What's going on with him?" Brooke said, cutting her off with a flat, yet inquisitive tone.

Heather looked taken aback. "You mean-"

"I mean the sleeping problems he has, the excessive energy, the symptoms that look a little bipolar-ish," Brooke clarified. If she could get anything close to a straight answer out of Heather, she'd be happy about it. "What's the story behind it?"

"Um…" The brunette's warm face seemed to pale at this sudden line of questioning. "I don't know."

"Don't lie to me, Heather."

Something in Brooke snapped. It wasn't a violent "snap", but her tone took on a far more venomous quality as her eyes narrowed and her fake smile fell into a very legitimate scowl. There were a few things that pissed her off in that moment: for one, she was already frustrated that she couldn't get that information out of Cody, but she wouldn't show that side of herself to him, so Heather would get the brunt of that. But Heather was lying to her, and that really pissed her off, because both of her traveling companions knew that she could see through their bullshit whenever they tried to throw it in her face. But on top of that, she was actually worried about Cody, and not knowing what was bothering him was concerning.

"If you can't tell me because Cody made you promise to keep it a secret or something, I could understand that. But don't lie to me. It's insulting." She wasn't sure how Heather would react to this and she was surprised to see that the other girl seemed a somewhat anxious about the confrontation. Did Brooke actually intimidate her? Heather had a good five inches on her and she was in far better shape. What did she have to be scared of? Perhaps she just didn't see it coming?

"You're right, I'm not supposed to tell. I should have been honest about that. But I don't know much about it. It's… it's complicated."

Complicated? Heather seemed to be telling the truth this time, but something about that statement was concerning. Did she really not know what was up? Was there something that Cody wasn't sharing with her? Or something he did share with her that she didn't get? This was unfamiliar territory, dossier-wise, but she wouldn't get anything from Heather.

"I believe you," Brooke said with a slightly cooler tone. "But look, remember how I said how I felt out of the loop? This is the shit I'm talking about. I just hope that this isn't a recurring theme."

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Save it. I'm going back to the room." Brooke walked past her and kept walking. While she was irritated that there was inaccessible information, she'd wait as long as she could. It wasn't just about her mission anymore. She genuinely wanted to fill in the pieces to the puzzle.

He was in his room back home and he almost didn't recognize it. Even though he had spent all of his young life sleeping in that room, it felt so unfamiliar to him. But as he looked around the room, he remembered. Same bed, same posters on the wall, same books, same knickknacks on the shelf. Hell, the same dirty magazines were probably under the bed. But he felt claustrophobic for some reason. He only had an urge to escape. Immediately, he made for the door, but the handle was stiff, almost as if it were a prop. But it couldn't be. The lock mechanism wasn't pushed in.

"Oh shit."

"Language! You don't want your dear mother to hear you say that."

"You…" Cody slowly turned around to see that his gray doppelganger was standing there, smirking. "Three nights in a row? What, you trying to break a record?"

"You should be more appreciative. You spend so much of your time learning during the day. Why not learn at night? Learn of those whom I broke. You could-"

"Who is she?"

Darkrai blinked. "Who is who?"

"That girl in the vision from last night, the one who you got thrown in a mental ward. Who is she? You said she is still alive."

"Hmph, what do you care?" the dark one scoffed. "She's nobody. She couldn't handle the pressure, but she wouldn't have amounted to much regardless. A pretty thing, delicate and thin, but weak-willed and no useful strengths."

Cody recalled what he saw: the blonde woman was pretty, but the scene Darkrai had shown of her was not. In the beginning of the vision, she was attacking another woman at a public park. From there, each subsequent scene showed this woman going crazier and crazier until she was in a straight jacket, screaming gibberish.

"How often does that happen?" Cody asked, feeling a tightness in his chest. Stressed as he was, he was glad that his worst symptoms thus far were heightened anxiety.

"Many kill themselves before it gets that bad," Darkrai admitted with a sigh. "She would have too, had it not been for intervention from fellow humans. As for how many end up in a similar situation, it's a toss up. You saw Stella and what she was like; even though madness has had its run on her mind, she's still strong willed and relatively physically healthy for a woman of her age who has endured that much trauma."

"And where do I fall on the spectrum?" Cody questioned, fearing what he might hear.

"If all goes well, you won't be on the spectrum; you'll be dead."

That reminder wasn't helpful in the slightest.

"So, what should we do tonight?" Darkrai asked, sitting down on the bed. "I'll even let you chose: pain or visions of the past?"

"You said something the other night that I wanted to ask you about," he answered, avoiding both choices.

His doppelganger's brow furrowed at the question, but he didn't react violently as he sometimes did. Instead, he said, "fine, I will indulge you."

"That other marked person, the one who Stella has been focusing on; you said something about how you'd rather work with me. Why? Why is that?"

"You shouldn't concern yourself with my other targets," Darkrai chided. "In all likelihood, you will never meet them and if you do, you wouldn't even know that they were marked. Stella can tell, but she's the exception to the rule." He sighed, knowing that Cody would not accept that answer. "It's because he's an insane sociopath. Does that answer your question?"

"Not really. Why does that even matter? I mean, that vision from the night before… It seems like you relish driving people insane," he pointed out.

"There's a difference," the dark one continued, rolling his eyes as if the question he was asked was stupid. "When I first found Stella, I recognized her to be strong, confident, kind, intelligent, wise… good traits for a human to have. Of course, now, she's been broken, but the woman who she is now is a shell of what she once was. The woman who she was then was her true self. And her true self, compared to this man's true self-"

"Okay, but why does that matter?" Cody asked. "I get the difference, but-"

"You remember how I told you that my ultimate goal with you will be for you to allow me to pass through your body into that of a guardian, correct?"

"In which I hypothetically die? Gee, how could I forget?" Cody asked with a roll of his eyes.

"This has been done before in the past by beings other than myself, but the process has had consequences on the one who passes. It would appear that those who make the transition often take on traits of the one they passed through. Make sense?"

"Not really…" He understood what Darkrai had told him, but he didn't understand why that was a thing. "So, what you're saying is that I'm a better candidate?"

"Hmph, best of a bad situation," Darkrai clarified, shaking his head. "You are hardly without faults. You're rash and make poor decisions on the fly. But overall, you are at least stable. Not as good of a candidate as Stella would have been, but far more preferable than… no, he's my fallback plan. Even then, I would rather not be driven by madness. Having a stable mind is what's necessary for creating a new world. I can't let madness overtake me."

"Yeah, because it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, right?" He had been pushing his luck that night, and it finally caught up with him when the dark one responded by punching him through his chest. Cody let out a scream as he crashed to the floor, fidgeting and twitching as he was unable to breathe.

"I didn't have to answer those questions for you, you know," the dark one continued saying, spite in his voice as he looked down with narrowed eyes. "I figured maybe, just maybe, if I showed a little kindness to you, you wouldn't be such a little shit. But no, you had to run your mouth. And it looks like you've chosen pain this evening. What do you have to say about that?"

Cody strained to look up, seeing that the intruder had risen his foot above his head. He strained to say something, but nothing came from his lips.

"Exactly." And the foot came down.

"Augh!"

He shot up in his sleeping bag, desperately trying to catch his breath, sweat covering his face, and his heart practically protruding from his chest. His sudden sit-up startled Reflet, who popped out of his sleeping bag by the jolt and ran under one of the motel beds.

"Jeeeeesus..." he groaned, trying to wipe off his face with his sweaty hand. The attempt was futile. His breathing was beginning to stabilize, but his mind was still running. He reached over to touch and pacify the startled Eevee while he looked over at the beds where Heather and Brooke were sleeping. They hadn't woken up this time. He guessed it was because they were used to his behavior by then, as he didn't hear a peep out of either. Hell, he could barely hear Brooke breathing, and she was the type to murmur in her sleep.

He looked forward and he felt his heart stop for a second when he saw Cortez staring at him from across the sleeping bag. He was just floating there, staring forward with those icy-blue eyes. His gold form glowed in the darkness like a nightlight, but unlike a nightlight, there was nothing comfortable about how he just watched him like that.

Creepy. I need air. Standing up, he walked over and exited the cheap motel room. They were on the ground floor that night, and the building sat at the edge of the town next to the woods. He stood next to the wall and sunk down to the ground folding his arms over his chest. The nights were getting chillier and the fact he was only wearing boxers and a t-shirt wasn't helping.

"Yeep?" Reflet yipped as she pawed at his leg. Cody picked her up and held her close. Cortez had followed him outside as well, and while his heat did make the young trainer feel a bit warmer, the way he was staring at his trainer wasn't helping. The Venipede had slipped out the door as well. He had been sleeping under one of the beds, but the disturbance must have woken him. While Cody's other pokémon were at the pokémon center, these three stayed with him, since he was too tired to return them after their evening training session.

He didn't know what to think anymore with Darkrai. While the specter had always been a huge source of stress for him, at least he wasn't so frequent in the past. In the past two months, the nightmares were more numerous, though brief. He knew that Darkrai had found another potential target, but Cody was still preferred. And why? Because he was more stable? Did that really matter so much? Was he really such a "perfect storm" in this situation?

Never say "perfect storm" when referring to yourself. Nobody will take you seriously. But who did? Nobody would believe him. And he was beginning to see the reality of having to tell Brooke eventually. She was suspicious and he literally couldn't lie to her. But even beyond her, he was beginning to feel the gravity of his situation. Darkrai wasn't going away. He thought that he'd be able to handle the situation better than he had. Terrifying as it was, learning more about Darkrai and its plans… it was interesting. But now, Darkrai was laser focused on breaking Cody. How could the trainer beat this? He could give in to the dark one, but he obviously didn't want to do that. He could take his own life if things got really bad, but he wouldn't do that either. His only option, the hardest one, was to endure. And what then, become like Stella, who was borderline insane? Then what?

"I… I just want it all to go away." He felt exhausted. No more adrenalin and nothing else on his mind. Reflet squirmed out of his arms and licked a tear that trickled from Cody's right eye.

"It's all so hopeless." He held the Eevee close again. She seemed to comfort him the most when he felt this way. Perhaps it was because she knew what it was like to be so helpless?

I just need to focus. Keep yourself grounded. But in that moment, what could ground him?

"Haw!" Cortez laughed, spitting a fireball at the Venipede. The shiny-brown bug dodged but didn't fight back. Instead, he ran into the woods, disappearing into the black.

"Asshole!" Cody shouted, immediately snapping back to the present. "What if he doesn't come back?" He got in the Lampent's face, but failed to intimidate, even with his angriest expression

"Hehhh!" the golden ghost replied, blowing a stream of smoke into his trainer's face. Despite his intelligence, the ghost didn't care that he had just made his trainer even more upset, even if he did snap him out of his funk.

"Fantastic..." But when he looks down, he saw that his Venipede had left something: a piece of shed skin.

Good enough. Putting Reflet next to the spot, he asked, "pick up the trail?" He had never taught his Eevee how to pick up a trail, but she had a good sense of smell. Reflet seemed to understand what had been asked of her, as after sniffing the skin a few times, she seemed to know what to do.

"Yip!" she barked, looking towards the woods.

"Good girl," Cody praised, and he turned to Cortez, giving him a sour look. "You got us into this mess, so you'll get us out. Follow Reflet and light the way."

"Nuh!" the Lampent scoffed, returning Cody's gaze with a mean one of his own. But, he ultimately complied. In search of the Venipede, the three entered the woods.

Brooke woke when Cody did, but she didn't say anything or ask if he was alright. Instead, she remained silent, waiting for some sort of indication as to what was going on with him. Seconds later, he was outside. The window to the motel was left slightly open to allow a cool breeze to pass in, so Brooke held her phone up to the crack, recording any sounds she could. For a long time, she heard nothing, aside from the wind and his heavy breathing, but then, she heard him say something unexpected.

"I… I just want it all to go away."

What was that? That almost sounded suicidal. Could that be it?

"It's all so hopeless."

This didn't sound like him at all. But following all that, she gasped when she heard him shout at his Lampent.

I can't get caught. He wasn't suspecting her, but instinctively, she scurried to the bathroom and locked herself in. Fast as her fingers could, she typed out an email to Michelle and attached the audio. But before she could hit the send button, something held her back. Out of all the intimate information that she had passed to Michelle, this piece might have been the most intimate, as it was something that Cody did not know that she knew. She did eventually press the send button, but it filled her with regret. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, she stared into space, feeling dirty. She did the right thing. She was a loyal disciple. But she definitely felt in the wrong. All she could do was hope that no harm would come to him from this.

It was a stupid mistake not to put on some real clothes and some shoes before entering the forest. Cody thought that with Reflet leading the way, they would find the Venipede quickly, but the path was long and winding, as the Eevee led them through a twisted trail. The bug knew how to throw them off, that was for sure. The young trainer wasn't cold in just his boxers and shirt, thanks to the glowing Lampent who reluctantly followed, but his feet were exposed. One misstep and he could have easily injured his feet.

"If we can't find him…" he murmured, looking over at Cortez. He wouldn't be angry with Cortez forever over this random act of cruelty, but he wondered if maybe this was for the best. His Venipede really hadn't warmed up to him much at all, so maybe it was for the best that the bug was back in the wild? As much as it killed him to lose such a cool pokémon, he couldn't be selfish. Some things weren't meant to be, though it would suck if that were the case, considering he risked being eaten alive to catch the bug.

"Hmm… where are we even?" Cody looked around, but in the woods, off the trails, in the darkness, he had no bearings. Instinctively, he reached for his phone, only to realize that because he wasn't wearing pants, he didn't have a pocket for his phone. He had no map either. Looking up at the stars, he tried to use what little astronomy he knew to find which direction was which, but it was no use. Even if he could determine which direction was north, he had no idea which direction he was facing at the motel, and he didn't know where they were in comparison to the starting point.

"Hopefully, you can sniff our way back, or we'll be out here all night," Cody commented as he continued trailing his pokémon. It occurred to him that he had no idea what time it was either.

"Hoot! Hoot!" a Hoothoot in a nearby tree called out.

I bet he knows the time. According to the field guide, those owls had a perfect sense of time, but the most trainer had no way of deciphering the hoots. But what was even more strange was that the Hoothoot was the only wild pokémon he had heard all night. Nocturnal pokémon were usually good at remaining in the shadows, but even so, he figured he would have seen something else by then. Where were they?

"Yip! Yip!" Reflet suddenly dashed forward and Cody matched her speed while Cortez followed slowly. They ran for only a few seconds before arriving at a small grove. It was a makeshift campsite, but no campers were found. Instead, there was a shredded tent, the remnants of a campfire, and gear scattered about all over the ground.

"What happened here?" Whoever was at the campsite must have been there not long ago, judging by the glowing embers. Wherever they were then, he couldn't say. "Hello?" he called out, receiving no response. But he did hear a munching sound.

Reflet had found the Venipede first. The bug was hiding within the ripped tent, sticking his head in a bag of trail mix.

"There you are!" Cody exclaimed, scooping the bug up. The shiny pokémon clicked in protest, but he didn't struggle. "And thank you," he said, nodding at Reflet, who looked so happy to be acknowledged. "And you," he said, turning to Cortez, "you owe us all an apology."

"Homph!" the Lampent scoffed, turning away.

"Whatever," the trainer muttered. "But what happened here? You didn't do this, did you?" he asked his Venipede, facing the bug's face to his.

"Tlick!" the centipede clicked at him.

"No, of course not." His Venipede could have torn the tent and made a mess of the place, but he knew that he didn't. The bug preferred to be away from people, so he wouldn't have come to that spot if others were still there. Besides, could one Venipede really chase off a trainer? Not that his Venipede wasn't tough enough to try, but he seriously doubted it.

"I don't like this. Let's get out of here before-"

"Gruuuuuuhhhhhh…"

Whatever made that noise gave Cody and his pokémon a sudden case of the jitters. Even Cortez looked a bit worried, and he was typically fearless. Instinctively, Cody put the Venipede back on the ground and snatched up a camping skillet that rested by his feet. Defense-wise, it was better than nothing.

"Gruuuuuuhhhhhh..."

Cody didn't need to determine where the noise came from, as his pokémon already knew. Cortez looked on into the darkness, waiting for whoever made that noise to show their face. The Venipede arched his hump, aggressively clicking in the same direction. Reflet knew as well, but her ears and tail were down. She would fight, but she looked terrified.

"Gruuuuuuhhhhhh!"

The monster who made the noise finally emerged from the darkness. It was huge, standing at about seven feet tall, walking on six, leg-like roots that allowed it to come forward. Its thick trunk that was its body and head appeared to have two, mouth-like openings that encircled its body, moving up and down as the pokémon breathed. Two clawed hands at the end of long, leaf-tufted arms extended from the foul tree and its head was topped with three horns. But the most unnerving part of this monster was its single crimson eye above its top mouth that was underneath a devilish brow. It was one of the Trevenant that the rangers had warned them about.

Trevenant were an invasive species in Skitrex. They were native to the forests of eastern Europe, but due to "prank releasing", the act of releasing a pokémon in an ill-suited environment by irresponsible trainers, central Skitrex had a bit of a problem with the monsters. In Europe, these pokémon were known for being vicious, but reclusive. While there were stories passed through generations about how dangerous these trees were, people rarely encountered them in the forests the trees were native to. For some reason, the Trevenant in Skitrex were even nastier in nature, most likely due to the differences in the environment. There were reports that these pokémon would injure, maim, kill, or even eat any person or pokémon they could find. Thankfully, they were only active by night, but that's why Cody had seen so few pokémon in his search for the Venipede; they were all hiding. But he hadn't expected to see these monsters this far north, as they had just recently exited the areas where they had been sighted. This one must have traveled far beyond where he was expected to be.

"Gruuuuuuuuuh!" the monstrous tree growled as it stepped forward with its roots. It looked so nightmarish that the trainer had all but forgotten the real nightmares he was having earlier.

Instinctively, Cody reached for a pokeball and remembered that he had no others, not even for the three who were with him. Even an empty pokeball would have been nice. According to a ranger he had met the other day, the forest rangers had been working nonstop to exterminate the invading Trevenant. Straight up hunting them was the most common method of extermination, but capturing them was viable as well. The rangers did not encourage that trainers go looking for Trevenant or their pre-evolution, Phantump, but stated that catching them could prove helpful in the long-term goal of removing them from the environment.

Can't catch it. But before he could make any sort of command, Cortez floated forward, cackling to himself.

"Gruuuuaaaaarrrh!" the tree roared.

"HAW!" Cortez responded, unimpressed.

The Trevenant ran forward and swung its arm at the smaller ghost, but Cortez easily dodged it. Lighting his entire body on fire, the Lampent collided with the tree, briefly setting the foe ablaze. The tree shook off the fire quickly, but it already looked pretty injured. It swiped at the Lampent with its branches, but the Shadow Claws missed. Cortez could have taken this time to launch another strong attack, but instead, he trapped his foe in a Night Shade, slowing its speed down, before shooting a few small embers at it. He wasn't taking the situation seriously.

"Quit goofing around and end this!" Cody ordered, his face heating up with anger. He didn't want his pokémon taking any chances with this foe.

"Gruuuh!" The tree pokémon shot a cluster of seeds at the other ghost, but Cortez incinerated them with ease. The tree finally hit with a Horn Leech, but not for much damage. Finally, annoyed with the hit, Cortez used Hex. The already burned pokémon felt the pain from the attack and fell into a slump.

"Alright, thank you, Cor- What are you doing?"

The Lampent had formed an orb of flame in front of himself, and he was expanding it with every second.

"He's fainted. You can stop now," Cody reminded his pokémon, but Cortez didn't react to his trainer.

"HAW!" He released the giant orb, which upon colliding with the fainted Trevenant, exploded. Cody, Reflet, and the Venipede were thrown back by the collision and when Cody reached his feet again, he saw that all that was left of the Trevenant was a smoldering pile of wood.

"What… Did you just… Did you-"

"Hahaha!" The Lampent cackled as he hovered over the pokémon he had just incinerated. A mysterious purple gas floated upwards from the pile and Cortez sucked it inside himself like a vacuum. That's when Cody got what had happened. His pokémon was feeding.

"What the hell was that?" Cody shouted, enraged. "There was no need for that!" It was true that the Litwick line fed off of the energy of other beings, but they didn't have to kill their prey to do that. At least when Antonia went hunting, it was because she had to. This, however, was unnecessary.

"Huh?" the golden ghost questioned, tilting his body.

He has to know that that was wrong. Then again, with all the Trevenant scouring the woods, maybe the extermination was a good thing. It was what the rangers wanted, after all. That being said, it was a ghost-type pokémon, meaning that it was far more intelligent than many others. Even if it was a murderous psychopath as the rangers had made it out to be, was killing it the right thing to do?

"Gruuuuuuh…"

Cody had no time to process the moral dilemma when he heard what had to have been another Trevenant. "Be on your guard!" Cody ordered, but Cortez just kept laughing. To him, the first monster had been so laughably easy to beat, so how hard could the second one be? Unfortunately for him, there wasn't just a second one, but a third and a fourth, as three Trevenant emerged from the dark.

Oh shit.

"Heh heh heh!" Cortez laughed, still not afraid as he lazily floated between both his group and the foes. Cody clutched onto the frying pan slightly tighter, ready to swing it. Not that it would do him much good, but he'd rather hold onto it than not.

"Don't mess around this time! Attack!" Cody ordered, but that command fell on deaf ears, so to speak.

"Ha!" Cody's ghost shot a few small fireballs at the trees, testing their agility as they scattered. They all shot Energy Balls at their fiery foe, but he easily dodged and set the closest one on fire with a Fire Spin.

Wait, where did one of them go? Cody noticed that his Lampent focused on the Trevenant that was not on fire, but where the final one was… "Be on your guard!"

"Huh?" Cortez gasped, but he found out. The hidden Trevenant emerged behind Cortez, having gone invisible, and crashed into the smaller pokémon whilst covered in a shadowy glow. The Phantom Force was a critical hit and it took the arrogant Lampent by surprise as he fell to the earth. The three Trevenant surrounded Cortez, ready to extinguish him for good.

"No!" Cody shouted, running forward and swinging the frying into the side of the nearest Trevenant head. Unfortunately, the attack was no Iron Tail or Steel Wing, as he barely made a dent.

"Gruuuaaaaarrrh!" The tree spun around and swatted the frying pan from the trainer's hand. He gave Cody a look of absolute insatiability. But before he could attack, Reflet finally stepped in. A Take Down to the trunk did far more damage, and despite weakened, Cortez was able to fight back the other two Trevenant, although he was far less empowered at this time. He seemed to finally take the fight seriously, but at half power, what would he have left?

"Yip!" the Eevee barked, as she tried another Take Down. This time, however, the ghost tree was ready and the attack passed right through it. It swatted the prone Eevee sideways, but it would take more to put Reflet down. When it went for another swat, it stopped as Reflet gazed at him with Baby-Doll Eyes. The gaze must have warmed something within the monster's cold soul, but she didn't stop there. Reflet's adorable look melted into pure rage, and the growling pup leaped forward and latched its teeth into the tree's trunk. It wasn't an ordinary bite; Reflet had a little bit of innate dark energy, and she channeled it into the Bite to harm the ghost. But it wouldn't do much, and she was eventually swatted away again.

Not good. Cody had backed off, now brandishing a marshmallow roasting stick that he had picked up from the dying fire. It wouldn't do much better than the pan, but it gave him a bit of false comfort. He saw that Cortez wasn't faring well either. Meanwhile, the Venipede stood near him, alert, but unmoving.

"You're not going to help, are you?" Cody asked. He looked up again to see that the tree who was fighting Reflet had turned its attention back to her trainer.

"Gruuuh!" It stepped forward and Cody started backing up. The haunted tree turned its focus to the centipede and swatted at it with a Shadow Claw. The bug dodged once. Then twice. Like Cortez had been earlier, the Venipede didn't seem that worried, but at least he wasn't being a blowhard about it. The third strike hit, knocking the shiny Venipede on his side.

"No!" Cody lunged forward and drove the metal roasting stick into the side of the tree's head before it could hit his Venipede again. Like the frying pan, the stick did little other than piss the tree off, but it had no time to attack Cody, as Reflet was on on the tree again, biting it. The Trevenant threw her off again and following a chant, it cast a dark spell on the fallen pup. A blob of ghostly energy surrounded Reflet, but it didn't seem to hurt her. But when she stood up again, she seemed a bit off. She quickly shook off the queasiness and tried biting the tree again, but the tree barely seemed disturbed. It had used Spite, draining the Eevee of her dark energy. Now, there was little she could do. The tree rose its branch for another strike, but this time, it was toppled by a new contender. In one hit, the tree had been metaphorically chopped down by the Venipede's Poison Tail.

What the...?

He didn't stop there. The brown Venipede rapid-fired a multitude of needle-like projectiles from the tip of his tail at the next closest Trevenant. The Poison Stings made the tree roar in rage and when it charged, the shiny bug ran into a roll and spun into the furthest Trevenant. The Rollout hit dead center, knocking the third ghost over.

What just happened? The Venipede was fighting for him now? Maybe he respected that they tried to defend him, so he returned the same? Could it really be that simple?

"Heck, heck, HOFF!" Cortez sputtered as he rose up and spit out another Fire Spin on the three trees. The attack was far weaker than before, following the beating he took, but it caught all of them. When the flames subsided, all three trees were scorched, though they weren't out yet.

"Okay, let's-"

"Gruuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh..."

"Gruuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh…"

"Gruuuuuuaaaaaaaaarrrh!"

The spooky groans poured through the forest and the trainer felt his bones rattle at the sounds. Reflet rejoined his side, shivering at his feet. The Venipede clicked violently, turning every which way, ready to fight. Cortez, still coughing, floated near his trainer. Something about him didn't look quite right, and it wasn't just his exhaustion. He had thin, stringy vines covering parts of his "arms" and head. It was Forest's Curse, a move that only Trevenant could learn. It was a mysterious move that temporarily overwrote a pokémon's typing, making them more like grass-types. He'd still have his arsenal of techniques, but the grass-typing would suppress his natural power.

"Stay close to me," he ordered his pokémon. He picked up another roasting stick and waited. He didn't want to run just yet. He couldn't tell where the groans were coming from, but he soon found out; it was from all around them.

Nine red eyes peered at them from the darkness. Nine Trevenant emerged, each looking nastier and viler than the last. Nine Trevenant encircled them, gnashing their teeth and sputtering like ghouls. And to join them, the three scorched Trevenant stood up, not as powerful as their brothers, but threatening nonetheless.

Not good. If he had a full team, he wouldn't be worried. If Cortez hadn't let his guard down while showboating earlier and actually had enough firepower left within him, he wouldn't be worried. But there he was, lost and practically naked in the woods with an almost unconscious Lampent, and Eevee who had little to hurt ghost-types with, and a Venipede who seemed like he wanted to help, but despite his type advantage, he'd probably get overwhelmed by the numbers game. If they stayed and fought, they would lose. So there was only one option: run.

In a flash, Cody scooped up both Reflet and the Venipede and shouted "Smokescreen!"

"HACK!" Cortez shouted, spitting out a black ball that exploded in thick, black smoke. Even the glowing candle of the golden ghost couldn't penetrate the pitch. Choosing to go left, Cody bolted, just barely dodging a blinded Trevenant.

Just keep running. He could barely see where he was going as he ran down the path, hoping he wouldn't step on a rock or a thorn bush with his naked feet. It was easier earlier when Cortez lit the way, but now that the ghost followed him, lighting the surrounding area far less with his dying glow, it was a gamble. He also felt slowed from carrying his Eevee, Venipede, and the roasting stick.

"Gruuuuuuuuuuuaaaaarrrh!"

He turned his head as he ran, seeing a train of Trevenant trailing behind him, slowly gaining speed. They would catch him if nothing was done about them. Cortez spun around and shot a weakened fireball at them, but it barely slowed the group. The Venipede crawled onto his shoulder and released a barrage of Poison Stings. Cody didn't bother looking, but he could hear a Trevenant howl in pain.

"Good work!" he shouted.

"Tlick!" The centipede jumped from his shoulder.

"What, no!" He turned his head again while running to see that the Venipede had launched himself over the Lampent and into the crowd of following Trevenant. He downed the closest one with a corkscrew Poison Tail and disappeared among the monstrous bunch. He was about to turn back, but before he stopped, his Venipede was knocked by one of the ghost-tree's branches and flew forward back in front of him on the trail. He seemed to be okay, as he was running by his trainer's side again, but he didn't attempt that suicide launch again.

He's okay. Just keep running. Just keep- His thoughts stopped as he saw that the path led by the side of a small hill. His immediate thought was to get to the top of the hill and try to see where the lights of the nearest town were. From there, he'd book it. Once at the top of the hill, he saw what he was looking for but realized a critical detail: he had been running the wrong way. Town was in the other direction.

Okay, just-

"Gruuuuuaaaaarrrh!"

Shit.

The twelve Trevenant had caught up with them, surrounding the hill. It would be easy for them now, as all they had to do was charge the hill at all angles to ensnare their prey.

"Heh HACK!" Cortez laughed one last time, coughing some. The golden Lampent glimmered in the paling moon and with the last of his energy, he screamed at the top of his lungs. A ring of fire, three feet wide, flames shooting six feet in the air, erupted around the base of the hill. It was an amazing feat, one that Cody had never seen his pokémon pull off before. But that was the last that the ghost had too offer. He was already exhausted and he had to put in extra energy to compensate for the Forest's Curse. The remaining flame in the Lampent's head faded to a glow and he fell to the earth. His spell remained, but it would only last for so long. Thankfully, Trevenant were one of the few ghost-types that could not fly, so all they could do was scuttle around the outside, biding their time until the flames died. One shot a Shadow Ball at them, but it missed wildly.

Plan, plan, need a plan. Cody strained himself for an escape idea, but the Venipede kept up the pace. From the top of Cody's head, the Venipede kept shooting Poison Stings, sniping the Trevenant from afar, but while he was hitting his marks, he wasn't doing enough damage.

"You might have to carry this one," he said to the Venipede, but he didn't see the bug being able to take down all of them before being overwhelmed. The way he saw it, he had one chance. Once the flames were down, he would run in the direction of the town. It was his only shot. Placing Reflet as his feet, he picked up the warm to the touch Cortez and held the fainted ghost in the crook of his arm. It was possible that he was overestimating himself, but he believed that he could make it back, even with the extra weight.

"Yi?" his Eevee yipped, looking up at him with big, worried eyes.

"Be ready to run," he warned her, smiling with uncertainty. "We'll be okay. Just stay by my side." But he knew it would take everything they had.

The ring of fire was dying and Cody kept running the plan through his head.

Run between them and try to stay on the path towards town, he told himself.

But the final wave of the attack came before he expected. One of the Trevenant charged through the faltering flames, catching fire, but it cared not, as it had one goal in mind. But before it could even get close, the shiny Venipede used Rollout and spun into the trees face. A second Trevenant braved the flames, and Reflet tried a Take Down, but phased right through the foe. But before the tree reached the trainer, his bug downed it with a Poison Tail. But his success streak ended when he got hit by a Shadow Ball. The third Trevenant that braved the flames had shot him down and approached the trainer, its red eye glaring maliciously. The trainer held out the roasting stick, ready to stab, though he knew it wouldn't get him far. His Eevee was back on her feet and tried Tackling the tree, only to phase through. Same with a Quick Attack and a Take Down that followed. Try as she might, she couldn't stop the ghost.

Okay, my turn. Cody thrust the roasting stick forward, not knowing if the metal would phase through the monster or not. It did stick, but the Trevenant barely noticed. He began charging another Shadow Ball but before Cody could move, Reflet leaped in front of him and absorbed the Shadow Ball. That type disadvantage went both ways, and knowing the attack was coming, she blocked it without feeling a thing. Staring up at the tree, she felt no fear.

"Okay, the flames are low enough for us to jump. Be-"

"Yip!" His Eevee glowed white, almost angelic-like. She lunged forward, this time connecting. The tree shrieked as it was hit, tumbling down the hill. By now the flames had died completely and the other nine Trevenant approached already, the Venipede rushed in to fight a few of them, but six Trevenant still rushed in to devour the trainer. But Reflet, still glowing, charged at them, knocking each one back with her shining tackles. Where was this coming from, this last resort ditch effort?

Wait, is this a Last Resort? It was a move that he had never seen her use before, but she had yet to be pushed to this limit.

"Gruuuuh!" a Trevenant roared as it knocked Reflet back, but she retaliated with another Last Resort. And when a few of the Trevenant teamed up on the Venipede, Reflet aided in that fight as one of the Trevenant finally reached Cody, knocking him onto his back. But before it could strike, Reflet jumped between the two of them, growling in an uncharacteristically cruel manner, her ears tucked back and her tail straight up in the air. She was looking a little roughed up, her fur was messy, and the Last Resort glow was beginning to fade, but she stood, unafraid.

Wow… Look at her. But before the fight could continue, an unexpected blessing appeared: the sun.

Morning already?

But what was a warm touch on the cheek for him was like poison for the ghosts. As the sunlight touched the cluster of Trevenant, they all hissed. The tree closest to Cody gnashed its teeth a few times at him before joining its fellows and returning to the shade of the trees. As they entered the shade, they faded to invisibility. The monstrous trees were nocturnal, and while they fed on sunlight during the day like other plants, they would not battle. It was strange, but he was thankful for that quirk as the trees fled the scene.

"You… all of you saved us," Cody said, clutching the limp body of Cortez close to him. Reflet gingerly walked to his side, as did the Venipede. While the bug only sat by his side, not making contact otherwise, Reflet hopped up onto her trainer's lap and licked him. Then, as the morning light continued to touch their cheeks, his Eevee's body began to glow white.

"Holy…" His mouth hung agape as his Eevee began her evolution. He placed the glowing pokémon next to him on the grassy hill and watched her body expand and her form change. He was expecting the new form to be a Leafeon, but the new form looked very different. And when the glowing subsided, the pokémon that sat next to him was a far more beautiful creature: am Espeon. The beautiful purple, glossy-haired being stared at him with large, dark eyes, but that only lasted a second, as they rolled up inside her head and she fell over.

"Reflet?" Cody asked, gasping as he touched her body. She had taken a beating, but she seemed to be okay until just then. Her body began to convulse wildly and weird, mangled sounds came from her mouth.

"Reflet!" He pulled his hand away on the off chance that his touch had caused the convulsions. He didn't know what to do, as he had no potions or pokeball to return her to. He would have to carry both her and Cortez for God knows how far. But before he could take that step, he heard the running of a motor and the rolling of wheels on the dirt path. He looked over to the right to see a small, brown, doorless Jeep peel around the corner. The middle-aged man driving it was wearing a green jacket with matching pants and a black, wide-brim hat.

Forest ranger. "Hey!" he shouted, waving his arms, although it was unnecessary since the man already saw him. The jeep pulled up and stopped at the base of the hill.

"I saw fire and smoke from the station. What the hell happened?" the man barked. "If I had a dollar for every trainer who let a campfire go out of control-"

"Trevenant! Thirteen of them! Well, twelve now… Unless there are others. Things got out of control and my Lampent kinda- Wait, I there was a campsite out there but no trainers! What if-"

"Calm down, kid," the ranger ordered as he hopped out of the jeep, giving the land a look around. "We'll take care of it… Jesus, the Trevenant spread up here now. We don't get enough funding for this crap." He looked down at the trainer's pokémon. "Your Espeon okay? Looks like she's seizing. And where are the rest of your clothes?"

"Oh!" He looked back down Reflet, who was still convulsing, but slightly less. With his left arm, he drew her closer. "Can you get me back to town? I need a pokémon center."

"Sure, hop in. Let me give you a hand." The ranger took Cortez from Cody so he could carry the limp Espeon to the car's passenger seat while his Venipede trailed at his feet. Once they were all inside, the ranger placed the Lampent at the trainer's side and he started the Jeep.

As the Jeep rolled back towards town, Cody found that he had nearly forgotten about his terrors in the night. Instead, he worried about the trainer or trainers who had gone missing from their campsite. He worried about getting chewed out by the girls for running off the way he did. But mostly, he worried about his pokémon. He knew Cortez would be okay and that his Venipede was fine, but as his Espeon continued to twitch in his lap, he worried about her most of all. Whatever was wrong with her, he just hoped that it wasn't serious. A new day was dawning and he wanted her to be a part of it.