Fair warning – one of the scenes in this chapter is kinda intense…

And sorry about the really long delay, guys. I was working on a mini nanowrimo project, so I didn't want to look at this during November.

Polaris–Ponyta, Tsuki–Serperior, Mamoru–Samurott, Tlaloc-Braviary, Lanfan-Mienfoo, Croatan – Scolipede

Sleeping Fears

Koffing bounced to the ground and rolled away, stunned. Lanfan faced her fallen opponent, hands raised in case of a counter attack. But Koffing was beaten.

Roxie let out a low whistle and returned her Koffing. "Well, it looks to me like you're in good shape. Your team is tough to beat." She grinned. "Think you're ready to go and find that N guy?"

I frowned slightly. "I hope so. We'll find out. Thanks for helping me train."

"Sure thing. It was good practice for both of us. I've got to head off though. The rest of the gym leaders have already gathered. Once we've got everything organized, we'll all meet you at the Pokémon League."

I nodded stiffly. "See you tomorrow then."

The gym leaders had learned that N was to challenge the Pokémon League tomorrow. We were at the foot of Victory road already. It wasn't quite noon yet, so we would arrive plenty early if we flew over the mountain and to the League.

Roxie gathered all her belongings and headed off to rendezvous with the other gym leaders.

"Okay," I said to Ben and Hari. "Let's get up to the Pokémon League and prepare to face Team Plasma."

"Are you still planning on flying over Victory Road?" Ben asked, looking uneasy."

"Yes. The sooner we get to the League, the better."

"You've never skipped Victory Road before," he said, almost in protest. "You've always used it for final training."

"And it's windy," Hari piped up. "It might be hard for the Pokémon to fly in."

I huffed. "We don't have time for that right now. We need to get to the League, so I can study the battlefield. We can train when we get there. So let Pigeot out."

Ben did as I asked, though he still seemed uneasy. I wasn't sure if he was really concerned about skipping Victory Road, or if he was nervous about the upcoming battle. Well, he wasn't the one who should be nervous. He didn't have to fight Zekrom.

I jumped onto Tlaloc's back, and he took to the air.

Currents of air buffeted Tlaloc's wings as he gained altitude and made towards the mountains. But the higher we got, the more Tlaloc was battered by the wind. Behind us, Pigeot was knocked back and forth, with Ben and Hari desperately trying to stay on his back.

I grit my teeth. "Come on, Tlaloc. We can do it."

Tlaloc let out a squawk and struggled to push forward.

A blast of wind struck him at an angle, and Tlaloc shrieked in alarm as he tumbled through the air. I wrapped my arms around his neck, but felt my body slip sideways.

"Hang in there!" I shouted as Tlaloc managed to right himself. I dragged my body back onto place and hunkered down, getting a better grip so I wouldn't fall.

Tlaloc shook his head. It's too much. I can't take the wind.

What are you talking about? I responded, shocked. We have to get up there! Come on, try again.

Tlaloc shook his head again, but fought to regain the height he had lost during the tumble. But the currents immediately battered him down again.

It's too much. You'll have to go through the caves. Tlaloc banked and headed back to the ground, where Pigeot was already retreating.

You can't be serious!

Tlaloc turned his head for a moment and looked at me with a narrowed eye.

I was fuming by the time we landed at the entrance to Victory Road.

I returned Tlaloc and stomped into the entrance to the mountain. "Come on. Let's go."

Ben and Hari followed, seeming put-off by my mood.

Victory Road went badly. We met a lot of wild Pokémon, but when my team fought them, their movements were awkward and they had trouble winning. Usually they wouldn't have a problem against Pokémon of this level. Something was wrong. What rotten timing…

And it certainly didn't improve my mood. My nerves were already fraying dangerously from anticipation of battling N and Zekrom.

By evening, we still hadn't reached the Pokémon League, and were forced to camp out in Victory Road.

I let my team out, and we headed to a separate cavern, to begin relentless training.

I coached Tsuki and Croatan as the rest of my Pokemon trained against each other.

Tsuki struck Croatan in the chest with Leaf Blade, and Croatan toppled backwards.

"Croatan!" I exclaimed. "Leaf Blade isn't very effective to you! That wasn't even a powerful blow, but you keep going down!"

Croatan shuffled to his feet, panting and wincing. I turned on Tsuki next. "Why are you holding back? You need to practice hitting with your full force! Would you rather practice against the cave wall? That wouldn't try to dodge you."

Polaris looked up from her practice with Mamoru. She narrowed her eyes and laid her ears back slightly.

I turned back to Tsuki. "Come on. Both of you go at it again."

I went on to where Tlaloc and Lanfan were practicing. Tlaloc was flying through the confines of the cave as Lanfan did her best to trip him up, even as she avoided attacks from him.

"Lanfan, make more use of your surroundings: boulders and columns."

Lanfan was already panting, but she redouble her efforts and sprang back and forth with as much agility as Tlaloc had in flight.

As Tlaloc wheeled around to face us, he tucked his wings to slip between two columns of rock. But he didn't' get one wing tucked fast enough, and it clipped the stone. He spun out of the air and barely managed to get his feet under him as he skidded to the ground.

"Tlaloc!" I shouted as he stood up, dazed. "What is wrong with you today? Even this morning! Winds like that normally couldn't bother you!" I looked around at all of my tired Pokémon. "All of you! Why are you so out of it? Don't you know how important it is that we stop N? If we don't get N away from Ghetsis, he could force everyone to get rid of their Pokémon? Do you really want Unova to be like that?"

My Team faced me, mostly looking miserable. I turned away, frustration and anxiety swirling around inside me. "Maybe once we get to the Pokémon League, I'll trade over another team. Charizard and Swampert…"

You cant! Tlaloc exclaimed, outraged. You'd replace us, after we worked so hard for all of this? Unova is our land, and we want to fight to protect it!

"Then prove it! Today I haven't seen anything from you guys that makes me think we can beat N."

Lanfan stepped forward. Maybe you shouldn't blame us. You're the one who's been falling apart for the past couple days.

"You're going to blame me? Listen. I'm about ready to…" I think I was about to say something pretty awful, but I was saved from that when something slammed into my chest and sent me flat on my back.

I stared at the ceiling of the cave, my breath knocked out of me. Ploaris's face appeared in front of mine as she placed her forehooves on either side of my head and stood over me. Her ears were flattened back, nostrils flared, and her lips pulled back to show her teeth.

Listen you! I was shocked to hear such rage in her voice. I couldn't remember if she'd ever spoken to me like this. You are completely out of line. It's one thing for you to be nervous about fighting your friend. It's one thing to be upset from a poor training session. But don't you dare take anything out on us. Do your really think beating us down will help us fight tomorrow? Do you really think we aren't doing our best? It's hard enough for us to perform with your dingy mood hanging over our heads. The reason we've been having so much trouble today is because of your negative energy. The mental connection that usually makes us such a strong team is being dragged down by you. And if you want us to be able to win tomorrow, you'd better get over it.

Polaris stepped away and left me sprawled on my back.

I slowly sat up, shaken. I don't think I'd ever been scolded like that. Especially not from Polaris, though she often said things to keep me in line. I remained there for over a minute, then looked over at by Pokémon. They had backed away from me, and were looking tense and restless. Polaris had stalked most of the way across the cavern and wouldn't look at me.

I shuffled to my feet and stood, staring down at the ground. Finally I muttered, "Sorry for working you so hard. You trained enough today, so you can go back to camp and rest."

All of them turned and walked away, with Polaris bringing up the rear. Tsuki glanced back at me, where I was standing alone in the cave. I walked away from them. I couldn't bear to be in their company now, and it seemed as most of them felt the same.

I really blew it. N was all about connecting with Pokémon, and I had nearly destroyed my own connection – the only real hope I had of winning against him.

I sat against a pillar of rock, feeling deflated and miserable.

Some time later, I heard bare feet. I wondered briefly if it was Lanfan, but when I looked up, I saw Hari coming towards me. He plopped down on the ground next to me.

"Mamoru says you're not feeling good."

I shook my head. "I'm trying to get in the right state of mind for tomorrow."

"You don't look any better than you did this morning. Different, maybe. But not better."

Occasionally I was surprised about how perceptive Hari was. "I guess not. I'm not angry anymore. Just depressed."

"But you said you were trying to get in a better mood."

"It's not working."

"Did you do that meditating thing? That usually works."

"Yeah." My words were half-hearted, and I felt too down to even try. Which is generally a bad idea.

"You're scared about the battle tomorrow?"

"Mmm."

"But you've done a lot of other battles. You said you've battled people stronger than N, and won."

"Well, yeah. It's not really that simple though. I have fought opponents much stronger than N. But I had really powerful allies with me. Like Mewthree in Naratay – we had an entire army of Pokémon. Or I have help from other trainers, or powerful Pokémon like Mewtwo. Like when I battled Giovanni, the first year I was a trainer. This is the first time I've taken part in such an important battle when I only had my team with me, and I couldn't rely on anyone else to help."

Hari cocked his head. He didn't seem to understand. "But you are stronger than N. I bet you can find a way to beat that Zekrom. You also have that White stone, right? Maybe N will help you wake it up. Then you could use Reshiram."

Yes, Reshiram. That could potentially be a great help. But even if I did revive Reshiram, would the two of us be able to work together well enough to win? We didn't know each other like my Pokémon team did.

All these doubts were building up, even when I found possible solutions to problems. There were just so many unknowns…

Hari leaned in front of me and grinned. "Come on. We'll go back to camp, and I bet we can make you feel better before. Okay?"

I managed some sort of smile and followed him back to camp.

I suppose my friends did manage to help me feel a bit better before I crawled into my sleeping bag.

Until the dream started.

…

I was standing in a black dreamscape, with two figures in front of me. Sprawled face-down on the ground was Mewtwo, completely motionless. Someone was standing over him. My insides lurched and I stepped closer. I couldn't see any signs of breathing from Mewtwo.

A pit opened up in my stomach and I stood stunned. My body started to shake as my eyes trailed up to the man who was standing above Mewtwo. Giovanni smirked. "What a shame. He was such an expensive project. But I guess destroying him was the only thing we could do, since he wouldn't obey. At least now we can try again. And this one will be better." He laughed.

I stared at Giovanni, fire burning through my veins and filling my head. My fists clenched and my teeth grit together.

"You killed him," I snarled.

Giovanni looked up, seeing me for the first time.

"You killed him," I repeated, my entire body trembling. "I'll kill you."

"What are you," Giovanni started. But he didn't get any farther, because at that moment all of the anger in me exploded and I threw myself at Giovanni.

His eyes widened I alarm as I swung fists and elbows at him. He managed to block several of my blows with his forearms, but I pummeled his sides, knocking the breath out of him. He countered, striking me in the stomach, but I barely noticed. Instead I grabbed his shoulders and hooked my foot behind his, twisting him to the ground. He toppled and I was on him in an instant, hands pressing down around his neck. He stared up at me, fear crossing his face as he tried to pull my fingers loose. But I wouldn't' let go.

"CARA!"

The sharp voice made my head jerk up. Standing behind me was Mewtwo. He was staring at the scene, alarmed.

I glanced back down at Giovanni, who was trying to gasp for air. My reason returned to me in a rush. I gasped and sprang away. Giovanni chcked and swallowed mouthfuls of air. He managed to raise his head, a hand at his throat. "What is wrong with you?"

I hesitated, then stepped forward and took his arm, tugging him to his feet. Giovanni continued to stare at me in disbelief. He backed away.

"Leave," Mewtwo told him. "Now."

Giovanni remained a moment longer, then turned and hobbled away from us, disappearing into the blackness of the dream.

I stood trembling, horrified at what I had done. And what I had almost done – even in a dream.

This time Mewtwo turned to me. "What was that about?"

I could tell that this was truly Mewtwo's consciousness that had entered my dream. What was I supposed to tell him? That I had a dream about Giovanni killing him? I covered my face and shook my head. I managed to say in a tiny voice, "how did you find me?"

"I've used telepathy with you enough to recognize when you're trying to contact me. Whatever you were dreaming about, it shoved some pretty strong emotions in my direction."

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"What happened? I've never felt such overpowering rage in you since that time in Naratay."

Yes, that had not been a good experience either. I hesitated, then explained the dream.

Mewtwo listened quietly. "You seem to feel a lot of rage when you think something has happened to me. Isn't that what happened in Naratay? When Mewthree captured me. And even when Giovanni captured me, before I wiped his memories."

I nodded. "Well, you've been through so much - you had such a bad beginning. And you were the very first of you kind… You don't know many humans, so I want to do whatever I can to protect you."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow, and gave something like a little smile. "Well, I appreciate that. But don't go overboard. Did you know that you actually touched Giovanni's dreams?"

"What? You mean that was actually Giovanni there?"

"For part of it."

"But Giovanni doesn't remember you."

"That's true. I doubt he saw things the way you did. You and I probably both looked different to him. I don't know if he'll remember the dream, but he'll probably be rather confused if he does."

Guilt rose up inside me. I hated Giovanni. But I had no desire to attack him like that. To… to try to kill him…

"You say you feel this rage when you want to protect someone?" Mewtwo continued. "You're very protective. That almost feels like an understatement. Possessive, even."

I snorted, remembering how I got so mad at Ben when he accidentally ate my donut. Possessive indeed… and not in a good way.

"That may actually help you protect people more," Mewtwo said, gazing around through the dreamscape. "But you need to learn to let some of that rage go. You saw what my rage almost did to me, as you put it, during my bad beginnings. Rage could destroy you."

I swallowed and nodded.

"Why did you have this dream?" Mewtwo asked.

"I-I don't know." I paused. "No, I do know. It's because of what I have to do tomorrow." I told him about N, Ghetsis, and Team Plasma. "I think I had this dream because of N. I know I have to fight him. I might be able to win. But I'm also afraid of hurting N. He's my friend."

"You seem so caught up in. Instead of thinking about retaliating when something goes wrong, focus all your energy on preventing the bad thing from happening. Right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to come to Unava, in case Team Plasma does manage to take over the Pokémon League?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but stopped. Finally I shook my head. "No. You've helped me so many times. When I got trapped in Naratay, you came to find me. When we found the Shadow Pokémon, I counted on you to help me catch all of them. But I can't always rely on you to fix my problems. And I think if we're going to fix this, then I really need to reach N myself. I'm the one he decided to be friends with. I'm the one he expects to face, with Zekrom and his ideals. So I'm the one who has to help him see Ghetsis and Team Plasma for what they really are. When Ghetsis loses his secret weapon, it will all be over.

Mewtwo briefly put a hand on my arm. "Well, you're starting to sound like yourself again. Keep your confidence up. Your trust in your abilities – your telepathy – is what makes your connection to Pokémon so strong." He paused. "You know, I've discovered something during my travels. All humans innately have the ability to communicate with Pokemon like you and Hari do. But most people never find the right state of mind to be able to do so. You had the determination to build that connection. And that is exactly what will turn truth and ideals into the same thing."