Chapter 4: A Group Activity
"That was good work, we're gonna have a request board soon. So we're gonna work harder right?" Both me and Thomas nodded to Jordan's comment. We were at home, and it was night. "Time to hit the hay guys. Good night!"
It was a restless night, I couldn't sleep, or it felt like it, for all I know I was already asleep. I was walking around just thinking, was I right to be here? Why me, and if no specific reason, how? I couldn't tell if anything was truly correct for me to be answered. I was walking, but not anywhere I knew.
"Hello, need a guide? Follow me, don't talk, all will be answered in time." It was a familiar voice, one I knew I could trust. I had followed the figure that spoke. He lead me to a place called Echo Canyon, I knew it, it was back in my world. I was still a Zorua though… How? I had spent a lot of time here when I was a child. It was nostalgic to be back here. "This place is not what it seems to be. Let's just give it a different light." The voice said something as the view changed, it shifted from night, to day, and the ambient light shifted from winter to summer. It was Resonant Bluff! That's why I recognized it! It's an exact copy of Echo Canyon back home! "The reason why you are seeing me and not Their visions is because of this." He held up that pink cube, now that I got a good look at it it was a strangely lit cube with indentations on each face, leaving about an inch of perimeter around the indentation before reaching the edge of the face, it was a very unique design that looks machine made. "This, is a Dream Cube, it works kind of like a battery to prevent actions in the future. These actions were agreed upon to be undisclosed to prevent fear. Only people or Pokémon from or who have visited the other mirror world may pick these up, otherwise they remain unseen as a defence mechanism." I was confused as to why the one I got protected me, it didn't ring out. "The reason why it protected you is because you weren't drawing from any Dream Cubes remotely, they work kind of like batteries, they store power from dreaming Pokémon who have an excess of a certain emotion, but give to those lacking a certain emotion. A remote connection to a Dream Cube is unstable, and could be disconnected if a foe is strong enough to do so. The reason why you felt helpless the other night was because your foe had broken your connection to the cube you have in your possession. What you were lacking was hope, this is because you had expected to die, and were transported to this world." He took me to another memory, this one of my professor, my psychology professor, I was taking psychology as a sort of pass-time, it was only entry level so I didn't have any plans to run with it as a profession. "Your questions will be answered here." The scene stopped being pale, and started playing, "They say that the human consciousness is weakest when the person has accepted their fate." That was the intro to my favorite lecture, "they say that humans deal with death poorly, and that they imagine another world, one called the Pokémon world. Now the consciousness is a strange thing, it determines morals and hopes. There its no say to what the consciousness can do under pressure. So we psychologists study and study patients hoping to find consistencies between multiple people. That is our job, that is what I am here to teach you. The human mind is as complex as a snowstorm." I had to ride this storm out, I knew why I was here on the inside, I couldn't put 2 and 2 together though so I had always asked. I now know how to spend my time, with my friends, I have been given the ultimate second chance.
I woke up invigorated, with new hope. I had waken slightly early and heard a ruckus, it was coming from nearby.
"Are you sure we're almost there? We used a lot of food to get here. I think that if we came for nothing then the others would be angry."
"Don't worry, there's almost no doubt in my head we're almost there… I can see a clearing, and we aren't in a mystery dungeon anymore so we should be safe." the two voices were barely distinct, but with some careful listening I could tell that they were different people, though since their voices were so close they must have been related.
"I'll contact the others, the letter we got signified a Post office here of some sort, they'll be here by noon."
"Hey Derrek, why are you up so early?" Jordan whispered, noticing Thomas was still asleep. I hushed him and pointed in the direction of the voices.
"Yeah, I know, I'm just antsy to set up shop! I mean, it's… A house shush!" the second voice was talking again.
"What? MMmmmpH! Don't cover my mouth! That is disgusting! It's not like we're bad Pokémon!"
"Jordan, make sure that Thomas stays sleeping, he needs the sleep, I'm going to go confront them." I said, walking out of the house, but sticking to the shadows. I could now see the two talkers, it was a Flareon and a Sylveon.
"Alright fine, I won't cover your mouth." Oh so it was the Sylveon who covered Flareon's mouth.
"Thanks, now can we get to… I hear something moving." I tossed a rock to distract both Flareon and Sylveon. It worked, they turned around, I felt air rush over my fur as my ability kicked in, I don't know what I was. I watched them turn around.
"Wah! Gr… Groudon! RUN!" I heard Sylveon yell. Oops, I had done it now… Crap.
"USE DISARMING VOICE!"
"WORKING ON IT!" Sylveon turned around, and hit me with something.
"Ow! That hurt!" I reacted to the hit as the illusion broke, he must have hit me with something I was weak to.
"Oh sorry, are you okay Zorua?" Sylveon instantly reacted with a remorseful tone.
"Wait... Zorua? Gah, can't believe we fell for that of all things."
"Yeah, I think so, anyways the names Derrek, nice to meet you." I said, trying to block out the pain they caused.
"Oh, so you're Derrek? See I told you we were there!" Flareon said.
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in!"
"Let me introduce you to Jordan, but be quiet, our third member is still asleep." I snuck in and brought Jordan out, luckily he did well in keeping Thomas asleep. I kinda felt bad for him after yesterday, going back to where he grew up to find it changed.
"Hello, so who are you guys?"
"We're two of the eight members of Team Mirror! We were to explore and find your town, and report back." Sylveon said.
"Objective complete then?"
"Yeah, I'll bring you there." I said. I lead them forward, showing them the way to the town.
"So what's its name?"
"I haven't been told, I have been here for quite a while, but I have never been told."
"I'll just ask Kecleon. You do have one here, right?"
"Yeah. He's been great, he has everything we need to explore, and more."
"Alright. So how long?"
"Shouldn't be long… We're here."
"Hold on… It can't be." It had turned back into a conversation between the two.
"But last time we were…"
"I know, but this is strange, it's different."
"You've been here?" I interrupted, they obviously know this place.
"Yes, it's called Dream Town, based off of the fact that it had vivid dreams. Judging on how it is a ghost town now, the dreams have stopped."
"Yeah, they have. Although this is a great place for explorers to go out and find things. This town has promise, and that promise ignites hopes. Dreams to be made, and cherished, that is what this town can be. That is what I hope this town will be." I said, hoping that this convinced them.
"Oh we know what this town can be, and we will send news immediately to the rest of our team." Sylveon smiled, as he said this.
"Thanks for showing us back here." Flareon started moving to the shop, almost as if he was completely familiar with the area.
I limped back to the house, Jordan saw how I was, and rushed over. "What happened? What's wrong?" I shook my head, and told him to be quiet, I needed a rest. I was thinking of earlier, I had never seen this Groudon before, how would I have transformed into this Groudon? I had the feeling that it wasn't my doing, and that unnerved me. The worst part of it was that I couldn't explore today, that Fairy-type hit harder than a freight train. I just drifted back to sleep.
It was a shorter day, I had a dreamless sleep as I lay in bed due to forced fainting. Luckily, I had nothing better for the day anyway. It was after noon when I had waken up, not far after noon though. I saw Jordan hovering over me, "Restless sleep huh? Although that's kinda good news, Team Mirror is here now, I'll take you to see them should you not feel good enough to go by yourself." I shook my head, I could walk, I felt strong enough. I got up and started a walk to town. I was hoping to see them anyways, but I never expected to be knocked out by them. Jordan had joined me anyways, decided that coming with me was for the best. The town was alight, it had a lot more people in it, I could tell that people had given up on thievery and banditry, or we had an influx of immigrants. I doubt it was the last one, as the dreams haven't come back yet. "You noticed all the people, yeah, someone reopened the apartment building, it's a grand sight seeing a town being rebuilt, but we're still a long ways away, so far the only shops that were opened are the apartment and the mail shop." He shook his head, must have been thinking of what was.
It wasn't much of a walk to get to the refurbished TM shop, the town was parting in front of us, as if they were awed by us being there, we weren't expecting the movement, we were just looking around as we walked, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could tell it was about us.
"Why hello! Derrek, over here!" Sylveon had said it just as I walked up.
"Hello Sylveon, how's town?" I asked, small talk.
"Lively, almost like it's when we were here last time." Sylveon had said, excited.
"Alright, how's the rest of your team?"
"Getting comfortable, it's a quick set-up to get ready, and we didn't pack much. Sorry about the wound, how's it faring?"
"I'll be out exploring tomorrow. Can I see the rest of your team?"
"Sure, guys get out here." He yelled the second half, 7 people poured out, each a different evolution of Eevee, I was surprised at how I knew this, although I really shouldn't be anymore.
"Leafeon, Flareon, Glaceon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon, and Umbreon, in that order, you already know me and Flareon, Leafeon is the excitable of the group, Glaceon is the pessimist, Vaporeon is the cool and calm-headed, Jolteon is… the strange one, Espeon is the math nerd, always takes her chances wisely, and Umbreon is the tinker. If you can't tell I'm the optimist, and Flareon's the Realist."
"Glad to meet you all, so when's the request board going up?"
"Tonight, I'm working on it now, it'll be done by tonight." That was Umbreon, he was intense. I knew that it was time to go back to bed, I said goodbye and left for home.
Author's note
I'm posting early to let you know that I want those 3 OC's, I only need one now, but if it gets to chapter 6 before I get one, I'll push on with my story, and close 1 OC slot. So if you want your character to show up, then speed up.
Post Author's note
Believe it or not, reviews would be nice, if you do want to submit an OC, I would prefer a PM, but I have 5 basic things that I want from an OC.
Name(Basic)
Personality(Brief explanation of how your character reacts to other people.)
History(Why they react to people the way they do)
Pokémon(Basic, which one)
How?(Basic short tale of how they got to accepting death, or feeling like there is nothing left for them.)
Post-Post Author's note
Three things to deal with, first is that thanks to Gashadokuro Amanojaku I have been made aware of some things that I had done wrong I'll be able to correct, and look for when proofreading. Second, I am having OCSP problems with this site, so when I don't post it may be to that, although I am getting through sometimes. Third, thanks to Gashadokuro Amanojaku have one OC slot filled, but unfortunately, thanks to his personality, I can't use him for the story spot I was hoping. It's great I've got one, but it's unfortunate I wasn't looking for one like that. Good news, I don't have to come up with my OC for that spot later. Thanks again Gashadokuro Amanojaku! ~You sending a PM for a shorter name would be nice, even if it is just Gashadokuro.
Disclaimer
I don't own Pokémon, I don't pretend to own Pokémon or anything that relates to Pokémon. I do claim my own characters, the Dream Cubes, and Dream Town.
I put the Disclaimer there because I will be using OCs from other people. Just a warning, if you don't like a specific character, then it might not be my own, and anything you can say about another character may cause someone else offense. I figured that with this being on a site made for things like what I'm writing, and putting it under a tab that lists Pokémon that I wouldn't have to put it till later.