Chapter Nineteen: Nightmare

And Everything Came Crashing Down

The next morning came too quickly. I kept waking up all throughout the night with nightmares. Horrible, horrible nightmares. Most I couldn't remember, I would just wake up crying and sweating. Some I could remember vividly. They all involved death. Mostly death of my Pokémon or my death.

It was not a fun night.

I woke up groggy and moved very slow. Thumper, who was up most of the night as well, didn't even crawl out of bed. I let him sleep.

The day before was a mushy memory. After training and lunch I walked around some more. I learned Pastoria wasn't big at all, it was just shaped oddly. Houses were scattered around, the most seen together was the row of houses near the docks. Most things were hidden by trees. The gym, for example, was completely surrounded by huge trees. There was a short path you had to take to get there.

I learned that the town wasn't at all occupied by Golden's. There wasn't one in sight. I even poked in the coliseum, no Golden's were there either. They must have traveled in for the 'reopening', the thing that got me was, how did they come in? If they traveled by foot, well, would they travel by foot? I wouldn't think that they had Flying Types and could fly, but that was a possibility. If that was so, wouldn't I had seen them leaving in the Golden Cities? Or had seen them leaving Pastoria? Maybe. But it all seems so farfetched, and I'm looking into it way too much. Something bugged me though. It was a bit off.

Now, I would have to make a decision: Should I do some rebellious act to stop the guards? Honestly, that was one thing that haunted my nightmares. I was setting up a bomb and the guards caught me. Because let's face it, I didn't have the knowledge to do something like that. I needed my team.

Again we face the issue… How will I tell my team to get here? How will I get them here? What exactly do I want them to do? Is this an issue that needs the rebels? Etcetera.

The whole thing made me roll my eyes. Maybe being a part of the rebels was a mistake, but I was already hooked into the group.

I shook my head nice and hard. I had done that a lot recently. Basically it was me trying to free all stressful thoughts from my mind and get my head in the game. Today was gym day. I needed to be ready and focused.

Of course nothing ever turns out like I plan.

I decided to go out and train a bit before the battle. It never hurts to be one-hundred-percent. I went out to the usual area where I train, Route 212. But it started to rain. No training for me then. Great.

I sighed and ran back to the Center. Not only that, but the presence decided to pop in for a visit. I was still ignoring it. It was possible that was just childish and I should have handled it better. Luckily it had stopped getting into my head. I could just feel it around. It stopped talking to me and manipulating me. And feeding me peace… That's the thing I missed. I kept telling myself it was a good thing. Did I believe it was? No.

I went and sat in the lobby. The television was on. Jubilife News, as usual, was on. They were talking about Lea. (Again, as usual.)

"Lea says this is temporary, he suspects the attacks will take up again any day and the rate will be sky-high." The girl said, her voice matter-of-fact.

"So," continued the other news anchor, "traveling is discouraged and we should all be on guard. In other news…" He continued on but I stopped listening.

Lea was predicting more attacks? A smile curled on my lips. Was he that afraid of us? Did it work, we scared him? Then a thought hit. What if he's going to return the favor and attempt to attack us? What if he's predicting his own attacks? My stomach knotted. …What if he attacks Celestic?

After watching the news I went to my room and had a lot of thinking time. I wanted to be back home but at the same time I wanted to be right where I was. Celestic wouldn't be attacked. It wouldn't be attacked. It wouldn't be attacked. I repeated over and over again.

A few hours went by. The rain stopped and I had a very quick training session. Nothing new or exciting.

Then, it was to the gym. I was going in completely blind. I had no idea who the trainer was or what he or she had. From the area I assumed Water Types. That wouldn't be good. I didn't have anything that would do well against Water Types.

I walked through the path that lead to the gym. The gym was in sight shortly. It was average-sized, yet oddly colored. It had purple beams, green walls and a white roof. I walked up to the door, sighed, and walked in.

The room was dimly lit, fire burned in the scones on the walls, giving the room a dungeon-like feel. The field was gray with green lines running through it. I could tell it was dirty and dusty, that proved that it had been a while since it was used.

A man walked onto the field. It was so dark I didn't know if he had been there the whole time or not. He chuckled. "Cynthia, Cynthia. How nice it is to see you." He was grinning, his teeth looked like they were glowing in the lowlight.

"Hello, are you the leader?"

"Yes. Some call me Blake." He said.

"Blake?" I echoed.

"Yes, Blake. Others call me… Well, I guess I shouldn't say on TV." TV? I looked passed him. I saw a red dot. Then my eyes adjusted, I saw the shadow of a cameraman. Great. At least Constance and Maxina weren't there. Well not so much Constance, just Maxina.

Blake moved closer. I could see more of him now. He was much older and wore a suit-like thing, I wasn't sure of the color, his hair was green, and not a natural Oliver green, and he was still grinning. He chuckled again. "My, my, you sure are prettier in person aren't you?" I didn't say anything. "Oh, a shy one, are you? Let's just see how shy you are once we get into battle. You're a… Feisty one." The way he paused made me wonder if he meant what he said, but that seemed like his point; to be mysterious.

"I guess I can be." I said.

He shot his head back and laughed. It came off wicked. "And I thought my jokes were bad." His grin grew. "You're feisty as they come, Cynthia." The way he said my name gave me cold chills. "But why am I stalling? Let the fight begin!" With another chuckle he walked across the room. I took my place and waited for him to call out his first Pokémon.

"Croagunk." The Pokémon came out. It stood probably three feet tall on two skinny legs, it was mostly a blue color with orange paws, and it had some frog-like features. It didn't necessarily look tough, but I wasn't taking chances by judging books by covers.

"Golduck, fight well!" I released Golduck. He spun around and stared at me blankly. He still did that even when he evolved. Creepy little duck.

"Use Mud Bomb." Blake commanded. Croagunk spit up a bunch of mud and it landed right on Golduck. He was squirming. "Faint Attack." Croagunk sprinted over to my Pokémon and punched him right in the chest. He clashed to the ground.

I took a deep breath. Double hit… Don't worry. "Water Pulse." Golduck sent water out to the rival. They slapped Croagunk in the face.

"Sucker Punch." The opponent almost flew over to Golduck and punched him. Golduck stood his ground but cringed awfully.

"Confusion." I shouted. Golduck met the eyes of the foe, the Pokémon fell to the ground and twitched. "Nice." I praised. "Now use Scratch." Golduck lifted his hand and his silvery claws sparkled in the firelight. He scraped his claws across Croagunk's side.

Blake didn't even try to call an attack. I could see that he was still grinning.

"Water Gun." He didn't even return his Pokémon. Golduck spewed water. Croagunk leapt up, ready to fight again. "Scratch."

"Mud Bomb." Blake yelled. Croagunk was much faster. The mud covered Golduck and he fell to the ground. He screeched, his eyes rolled back in his head. He was out.

I returned him and released Bibarel. "Don't let me down Bibarel." I sounded weak. No confidence sprinkled my voice. I suddenly was aware that cameras lingered around me.

"Sucker Punch." Croagunk obeyed and performed the move perfectly. Unfortunately for me.

Bibarel seemed close to unaffected, however. "Hyper Fang." I shouted. He readied himself for the attack and took off toward the foe, who was already back at the other end of the field. Bibarel leapt up and landed on the opponent, he hissed and jabbed his teeth into Croagunk. It cried out and whimpered, then fainted. No hope of recovery.

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. That looked good for the cameras.

"Drapion." Blake released a huge Pokémon. It was a purple color and stood taller than me. It had two tail-like things coming out of its head and a long tail that wrapped around its feet.

"Use—" I didn't have a chance.

"Thunder Fang." Drapion scuttled across the field, mouth agape and revealing bouncing electricity, and sunk its teeth into my Pokémon.

That did not look good for the cameras.

Bibarel screeched and attempted to fight back. Once the foe removed its face from him I saw the burn and bite marks left. Bibarel took a good hit. "Hyper Fang." I commanded. He quickly bit the rival hard. It made a bug-like screech noise. I took that as a good sign. If he can double hit, so can I. "Rollout." Bibarel started to use the move.

"Fight back with Poison Sting." Blake shouted. Drapion shot poison sticks out of its mouth. Some missed my Pokémon but others pierced his skin. Bibarel used Rollout about three times before sprinting over to me.

"Thunder Fang." Great… The foe bit Bibarel again. Bibarel cringed and slumped to the ground. Whether he had officially fainted or not, I pulled him out. He was done nonetheless.

I thought for a moment. Who would do the best? Spiritomb or Gabite. I decided to try out Gabite, maybe she would listen.

"Gabite, fight!" My Dragon Type came out and growled.

"Ice Fang." Drapion let out a roar and ran across the field. It had its mouth wide open, shiny ice coated all the fangs. He approached Gabite and pounced on her. They both fell to the ground, Drapion sunk its teeth into Gabite.

My Pokémon growled and hissed. She tried to kick and punch the opponent away, but the ice was too much. Drapion jumped backwards and Gabite leapt up. There was a huge red sore on Gabite's shoulder.

"Alright, use Dragon Rage." I commanded. Gabite spewed sand from her mouth. It moved over to the foe and stared spinning around him, creating a twister-like sandstorm. So my Pokémon isn't going to listen again?! I thought we got over that! I rolled my eyes.

"Ice Fang." Drapion charged through the raging sandstorm and rammed into Gabite. Again, she fell to the ground. Drapion chomped down on her leg, it iced over. She screamed and squirmed about. Then her eyes closed ever so slowly. She let out a roar. And it was a roar. It bounced off the ceiling and around the room. Gabite's eyes closed and I returned her.

Okay, so now I basically only had Spiritomb left. Hopefully the presence wouldn't join the party and scare her. Thinking that Roselia was useless, which she really was, that left Spiritomb. I was hesitant in using her because she had never battled with me before. There's a first time for everything.

The sandstorm subsided.

"Go Spiritomb." The purple Ghost Type came out. She had her famous wicked grin on. She was ready to fight. I wanted to get a move in fast. "Shadow Sneak." Spiritomb melted into a shadow puddle and zoomed over to the foe. She shot up and into her normal self and slammed into Drapion. I smiled.

The foe fell backwards but regained balance quickly. "Fire Fang!" Blake yelled. And yes, he was still grinning. Drapion, with its mouth ablaze, hurriedly bit Spiritomb. Its whole head went into my Pokémon's ghostly body, but Spiritomb still shrieked in pain.

"Sucker Punch." I commanded. Spiritomb punched the rival with a black, shadowy fist.

"Thunder Fang." Yellow electricity sparked in its mouth. It bit Spiritomb. She shrieked and ran across the field away from the opponent.

"Ominous Wind!" I shouted. Spiritomb's grin reappeared. Purple mist started to ooze out of her and zip over to Drapion. It started to circle the rival. The fog-like wind hit Drapion, it winced and slumped to the ground.

For a moment I thought it had fainted, but it fought back up to its feet.

"Fire Fang!" Blake commanded. His Pokémon obeyed, the attack was very fast and perfect. Spiritomb's ghost body melted to the ground. The green orbs that circled around her body spun in weird directions. That meant she was done, she was out of the game.

I returned her. Blake still had another Pokémon. It was practically useless to put Togetic out there, he would faint instantly and I didn't want to put him through that just yet.

I had lost the battle.

In the lowlight I could see Blake walk across the field, a grin still painted on his face. I saw the camera man following on his heels. I decided to put on my best fake face, I didn't want most of Sinnoh to see me mad over the loss.

He chuckled. It was an odd chuckle, one that shot down your spine. "You, Cynthia, are one feisty opponent."

I smiled slightly. Honestly that was all I could manage. Anger grew inside me, he was really going to rub this in my face, wasn't he? "So are you." I said. I was very calm.

He chuckled again. "Your first loss, your blood is boiling under your skin, isn't it?"

Yes. I gave him a weird look. "No, everyone has to lose sometime. But you will be seeing me again, and I will be victorious. I will gain the strength needed for this task and win." My tone was nothing but confidence. I even topped it off with a smile. The camera turned off.

"And that's that." The cameraman said. "We'll be waiting for the second challenge."

My smile slumped back to its normal place. Not like I lied when I gave that speech, but in my head it wasn't as nice.

Blake exploded in laughter. "You know how to work the television as well, don't you?"

I didn't respond.

His grin widened, if that was possible. "You do know what happens now don't you?" I thought for a moment, normally now would be the time where I received my winnings… Except I didn't win. "Cynthia, you have to pay me, you didn't think that you're so special you get the prize money? Seven-hundred please."

I reached into my pants pocket, secretly rolling my eyes, and pulled out my money. I had around one-thousand dollars. I was very frugal with my money, I only bought what I absolutely needed. Food mostly. I gave him seven-hundred.

He took the money and examined it with excited eyes. "Lovely." He put it in his pocket. "So, do you want to accompany me to dinner tomorrow?"

I almost choked on my own breath. "Excuse me?" That was the only thing I could mutter.

"It's a ball held by the Golden's. It's at the coliseum, you must be going. You have to go. You are one of the most popular people in Sinnoh, especially to the Golden's." Apparently he wasn't Golden since he called them that.

My face went pale. Another dinner? I could not do it. I would not do it. "I…Uh…"

He exploded in laughter again. "Oh you should see your face! It's hilarious! Simply hysterical!"

More anger grew. "That was a lie?!" I yelled. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because it was funny." He stopped laughing. "The Golden's wouldn't come now, there's a huge rainstorm coming in. They're never anywhere in the rain. Why do you thing Veilstone isn't Golden?"

"I don't know, I just assumed they didn't like the walk." I shrugged.

"That would be a good point if they didn't have their own way of transportation."

I cocked my head. "And what is it?"

"You really know nothing, do you know that?" He chuckled. "And, what, you're set off on this journey to be the best of them all? And you're what, twelve?"

I squinted my eyes. "As it happens, I am fourteen, and I'm out on this journey to make my deceased Grandfather proud." That was the truth… Just not all of it.

"Right." He said through his grin. "And tunnels."

"Tunnels?" I echoed. "Their transportation is tunnels?" I thought of the white buildings separating the Golden Cities from the real world.

"Underground tunnels to be exact." Blake resituated his green hair.

"There are underground tunnels? How come I didn't know about this?"

"Because you hardly pay attention. That's your flaw." He waggled a finger at me. "You have the spunk needed for this role, you even have the fire that pushes you along, and you're even kind of brainy, but you don't pay enough attention."

"What do you mean?" He was practically calling me naïve, which was probably the truth.

He shrugged and laughed. "There are small details in life that, in time, become big."

"Right." I murmured. "About these tunnels, why do they exist?"

"Because the Golden City community doesn't want to walk through rain and anything that's not concrete and stone walkways. You should know that, you did have to dine with them. The best group of them too." He laughed hard. Another wicked laugh.

"Why can't I use them then? Why can't we all use them?" Annoyance and anger clearly formed in my voice.

His nose scrunched as his smile widened. "Feisty, feisty. I love it. Well, you know the answer don't you? Or did you not pay attention?" Sarcasm laced his tone.

I shot him an angered look. Yes, the answer is Lea is an unfair person. I kept my mouth shut.

"No comment, huh? I'll make sure to let Lea know." He raised his eyebrows. This person knew me well. It was scary. "Yes, I said it. Lea." His voice shrunk down to somewhat similar to a growl.

"Yes, and?"

"You're not intimidated? You should be. He wants to meet you soon."

I sighed out of annoyance. "I think I should go." I turned to leave. His laugh rang out.

"You're scared stiff! It's hilarious. I'll tell him that too." More laughing.

When I reached the door all the lights went out. I looked over my shoulder, everything was darkness. I pushed the door open, my eyes had to adjust to the light.

The sun had started setting. I jogged back to the Center.

Once I reached my room, I slumped unto the bed. "My first loss! On television!" I whispered into the empty room. I was so prepared! I thought. My Pokémon were supposed to be perfect. I thought over everything. He really had me figured out, he knew how to play me. Now I needed to learn how to play him.

Darkness sheltered me. I felt my eyes completely dilate. The lights came on. I was looking at a wall of mirrors. I wore a huge blue ball gown. My hair was done-up on the top of my head. Where's Constance? I recognized her work. I noticed huge doors behind me.

I turned towards them. I reached out and opened the grand golden door. I poked my head out, it was the great dining room in the Dining Hall in Hearthrome. I walked out, no one sat at the table. I turned my head, the door to the ballroom was open. I walked through it.

Lots of people spun around the room. They all wore colorful dresses, it was so vivid and gorgeous. I walked out unto the dance floor. Alright, time to put on the charm. I went right to the middle of the room. I looked up, the mural on the ceiling was as amazing as ever.

I looked around. Constance stood nearby, she shoot me a 'Doing good' smile. I returned one. Someone tapped my shoulder.

I spun around gracefully, my gown ballooning out as I did.

My breath caught in my throat. I was looking right into the snake eyes of Lea.

"My, you look pretty tonight." His voice was smooth and professional. "Want to dance?" I didn't respond, but he had me in the dance position. We started dancing around. "You really are much prettier in person."

"Thank you." I muttered. Sweat started to pop out on my forehead. He had his hair nicely combed back and he wore a very expensive-looking suit.

He smiled a rather charming smile. "Why are you nervous?" He asked with a chuckle. This chuckle wasn't Blake's, it sounded genuine.

"I—I, uh." I looked around for Constance. I couldn't find her.

He leaned it close to my ear. "Is it because I know?" His voice changed from smooth and charming to gravelly and rough. "Huh?! Is it?!"

I pushed myself away from him and took a few steps back. I quickly realized that everyone in the room disappeared, we were alone.

"What are you talking about?" I muttered.

He laughed. "Oh, just the fact that you're a rebel." His voice was back to normal. "And you're a vegetarian who loves her grandmother oh so much." Her name stung. "Right?!" The huskiness returned.

"You don't know anything!" I yelled.

"I know everything! Daughter of Cassie Janine Everheart and Chance Lloyd Everheart!" His eyes turned blood red. Black wings appeared on his back. He flew up into the air and right to my face. "Granddaughter of Winnie Reid Coins and Carolina Marie Coins!"

I started running away. I ran into the dining room and slammed the door. He came right through.

"You're not as tough as you like people to think." He said and grinned. He lowered himself to the ground, his wings disappeared. His eyes were still red.

Just then, Noctowl flew into the room from the mirror room and tackled Lea. He fell to the ground and roared like a Pokémon. He flew up into the air, his wings came back, and a black sword appeared in his hand. He pushed it right through my Bird Type's chest. He fell to the floor, blood spilled out on the marble. I gasped and screamed.

Lea laughed. "He'll have nice meat."

"You're a monster!" I shrieked. Tears streamed down my face.

"Am I? Really? Or are you the monster?" His evil voice reappeared. He flew over to me and grabbed my shoulder. He lifted me into the air. "You don't deserve to have life! You don't deserve to live!" He threw my into the mirror room. He flew in after me.

"You can rot in the afterworld with your family." He shoved the sword into my stomach. I gasped hard. Pain, insane pain like no other surged through me. I tried to breath, but air was harder to find.

I looked over at my reflection. Blood covered my blue dress. I pulled the sword from my abdomen. More pain. I screamed out, Lea laughed then walked out of the room.

Then, I took my last breath.