Forewords: I had originally intended this writing to be in second person, this was before I read the rules and before I had the conviction to commit my inner fantasy to digital paper. Instead I propose you read this story as if it were one of your memories.

Chapter 8: Island

I looked at the un-familiar man kneeling over me: one of his hands was planted on my shoulder, and the other was raised as if it had just been used to strike me with, and judging from the smack that I remembered feeling I guessed that it had been. My eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight and the look on his face, when I could finally focus on it, was one of genuine shock and concern. He had on a pair of blue jeans and a hoodie with a white shirt on underneath and smelled of sea salt and beer… The situation fully registered itself in my half-lucid mind and I scurried away quickly, my eyes darting about rapidly like a cornered Rattata, confused and concerned about where I was.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down dude. You're fine, you were just having one hell of a nightmare," he said raising his hands to show that he meant no harm while tactfully backing up. "Just calm down… Everything is fine… You're perfectly safe, I'm not here to hurt you," he continued, handling the situation with a surprising amount of composure.

I grabbed my head, which hurt like a bitch, and tried to remember everything that happened, wishing that I hadn't; the horrible images flashed before my eyes as I focused my mind and calmed my sub-conscious. I clasped my hands over my mouth and rushed to the side of the boat (which I had just realized that I was on), vomiting my dinner over the side.

"Whoa, that nightmare must've been much worse than I thought…" he said scratching his head.

"Oh, Arceus," I said as I finished retching, "You have… you have no idea… Oh thank fucking Arceus that was only a dream… FUCK!" I said grabbing my head and rubbing my eyes.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked taking a seat opposite to me.

I was in no mood to talk about my feelings, especially not with some random ass stranger on a surprisingly luxurious speedboat in the middle of Arceus knows where. "No… No, I really… really don't," I said shooting him an undeservedly cold stare.

"Alright, alright… it's pretty clear that whatever you saw rocked you to your core…" he said and I nodded. "Who is Bluebell by the way?"

"Hmm…? Oh, she's my fiancé…" I said and a wave of understanding overtook his face. "But that's besides the point… Who the hell are you? Where the hell am I? And how the fuck did I get here?" I asked, making him very confused.

He sat for a second or two, pondering why I didn't recognize him until suddenly I clasped my pounding head once more, making him snap his fingers in remembrance. "I'm not surprised that you don't remember, you took a pretty nasty spill when you walked on deck," he said, with a subtle amount of deceit in his voice which made me think that he was changing the subject.

I narrowed my eyes and responded, expressing both my concession and my grievance, "Well… That would explain my headache and amnesia, but it doesn't really answer my questions now does it?"

He scratched the back of his head and blushed in the pale glow of the moonlight, caught in his mysterious and misguided attempt to lead me astray. "Name's Henry," he said he said extending his hand, which I took cautiously, giving him my name. "This," he said gesturing towards the rocky beach and forest of the island where we were docked, "Is Newmoon Isle. It gets it's name from… Well just look up," he said with a chuckle, pointing straight up.

I looked up hesitantly, and my jaw dropped as I saw the moon… well what was left of it anyways. It looked as if the moon was being eclipsed, only a thin halo of light could be seen in the star laden sky. "Oh… Wow!?" I said as my face lit up in wonder, "It's beautiful…"

"Yeah man, scientists have been trying to solve that one for ever… although their research always tanks after they make any sort of reasonable progress…" he explained cryptically, answering my unanswered 'why?'. Anyways, we met up at a bar just a few hours ago where you overheard me telling my buddy about this place… You said something about wanting to scope it out for a picnic or stargazing or something with all of your girls… And you then somehow managed to convince me to take you out here in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, the second you set foot on my ship, you slipped and cracked your head… hard. You weren't hurt (strangely), but that blow combined with the couple brews you knocked back and the fact that it was around one in the morning knocked you the fuck out. We made it here and I saw that you were tossing and turning violently in your sleep, shouting Bluebell's name and stuff like 'you bastard,' and I woke you up," he explained, in a surprisingly clear fashion for someone who had just been trying to change the subject.

I ignored my own suspicion and checked the GPS on my watch only to find, to my amazement, that I was on a small, unnamed island about ten kilometers away from Canalave. I tapped the island and typed in it's name before standing up, walking over to the opposite railing, and hopping down onto the dock. The boat was already tied off and I spotted the ironic name S.S. Dream Weaver painted on the side; thinking, with a snort, 'just my luck man…'

I turned to Henry and asked him to show me around. Despite the suspiciousness of the entire situation, I wasn't about to turn down the opportunity to explore such an awesome location.

A bit of trepidation flashed across his face for just a moment, to brief for the untrained eye to pick up on in fact. But almost instantaneously, he smiled and told me he was happy to.

I took one step off of the dock and a pebble lodged itself in my un-protected foot, making me jump in surprise at the miniscule pain. I looked at myself after swearing and flicking the rock out of my skin, and noticed that I was still in my pajamas… His story was seriously not adding up… but my adventurous side had been intrigued by all Henry's secrecy and there was no way that I was going to leave without being shown around.

I followed him carefully, choosing my foot placement and shifting my weight gingerly, so to not injure my feet once more. My lack of shoes slowed down our progress significantly, much to the pleasure of my ever more mysterious guide, and he stopped periodically to not only let me catch up, but to point out a ship, a town, or island in the distance; and on one special occasion, he pointed out his favorite constellation, Lyra; telling me the story of how the lyre was used by Orpheus to lull the three headed Houndoom Cerberus to sleep.

Having had my fill of sleep and dreams for one night, I nodded grimly at his story and we continued on the path to the forest, making idle conversation as we walked, until he stopped abruptly before the forest entrance, insisting that we turn around, and come back in the daytime. He kept using the excuse that it was too dark to see without a flashlight, which was bullshit because the island was fairly bright for having only the light of an eclipsed moon to illuminate it.

I grabbed his arm as he attempted to hurry past me, "Alright cut the crap. Why are you so afraid of this place all of a sudden?" I asked, making him flinch.

"I sure that I don't know what your talk-"

"Dude… come on. It took me like a minuet to convince you to set one foot off of the boat, and the closer we got to this forest, the more paranoid you became," I said, cutting him off.

He smiled, blushing and scratching the back of his neck, "was I really that obvious?"

I teetered my hand back and forth in a 'kinda-sorta' fashion and responded, "A bit… a less observant person might not have picked up on it, but I do have to say half that way here you were practically glued to my side…" I said and he bit his lower lip in a bit of shame, "So… what gives?"

He sighed and looked up at the moon as if having a flashback. "When I was a kid… I… I used to come here all the time with my mother and father," he said, checking to make sure that I was still listening. "Until one day… yeah I know how cliché that sounds, but still… Me and my parents were out late stargazing here when we heard a strange noise echo through the forest… or at least I thought we did… I'd fallen asleep and had the most terrible nightmare about a creature too terrible for words to describe slaughtering my father and slowly devouring him and my mother, who was still alive; all in front of my helpless eyes…" I grabbed my heart and nodded, making his eyes go wide as he realized that something similar must've shown itself to me. "I… I guess you know how that feels… Anyways, when I woke up, my father was shaking my shoulders and I was in the middle of the forest clearing, lying on my back in a puddle of water… Apparently I'd disappeared while he was taking down the telescope after I'd fallen asleep; he said that he had only taken his eyes off of me for a few seconds too. He only found me because I was screaming in my sleep and ever since then, I have been to terrified to ever enter that forest."

I nodded, closing my eyes. "Well then, I won't ask you to stay any longer. Let's get going, I can check out the forest later with my team," I sad making his face light up.

He thanked me vigorously and we started to walk back, but were stopped by a low call from the forest that, to me, sounded like a mix between a roar and a call for me to stay. Henry, meanwhile, had dropped to the ground clasping his hands over his ears. "Let's go… Please!" he said, picking up his pace until he realized that I wasn't following him. "Dude, what he hell?"

"I think I'm gonna check this one out," I said, turning to Henry only to see his 'you've got to be fucking kidding me' face. "Don't worry, I can handle myself," I said reassuringly, allowing some purplish-blue psionic energy to leak out of my hand like steam, "Just wait for me, I'll be back."

He nodded reluctantly and ran back to the Dream Weaver, but I couldn't help but notice a strange shift in his shadow like the one I had seen in Suicune during my nightmare. He was defiantly a suspicious character; but, like the feeling I got from the Harbor Inn, I couldn't quite put my finger on why…

There was the obvious trail that wound it's way through the forest, but I decided against it and made my way carefully through the trees, working my way around the island. From the looks of the trees and the placement of foliage, I could tell that the forest was natural, yet it had a… a planned out feeling… especially when it came to that trail, it just felt… premeditated. Like whatever was compelling me to stay wanted nothing more than for me to walk down that path.

The feeling faded as I moved further away from the trail and I established a healthy amount of paranoia, just enough to keep me on my toes, yet not enough to make me jump if startled, which happened every now and then as I heard the calls of various Noctowl. My ears caught the occasional word here or there, but none of them seemed to be about me, which was good.

I crept my way around the island to the back edge, placing my feet carefully so to not make a sound, avoiding piles of leaves and twigs for the far quieter yet more painful rocky sections. I made slow progress, winding my way through the trees carefully, thanking Arceus for the abnormal amount of light that seemed to permeate the forest canopy, and when I finally made my way to the side of the island opposite the entrance to the trail, I made my way deeper into the forest silently. 'I guess that's one perk of not wearing shoes…' I thought to myself, trying to be positive to cut through the overwhelming feeling of dread that I had.

The forest was alive with activity all of a sudden and whispers of warning resounded all around me… But… the warning, as strange as it sounds, didn't feel like it was for me… I heard a twig snap and jumped into the nearest tree, using my Psi to lift me to the lowest branches before climbing slowly up as the sound of footfalls came nearer.

A Zangoose crept into my line of sight, claws and ears raised, alert and ready to strike. From the smell, I could tell she was female, meaning that she wouldn't try and kill me if I carefully let my presence be known to her. I silently climbed down a branch or two and, keeping one hand on my lips in a shushing position, and the other very visible, I sent her the mental message to look up quietly, adding that I meant no harm and was just passing through.

She looked up startled and opened her mouth to speak but instead looked around, slightly paranoid, and motioned for me to hop down. I carefully climbed down the tree, not making a single sound and when I saw her face, I could tell that she was mildly impressed by my stealth.

"I'll assume that it was you whom I was being warned about?" she asked telepathically.

"I guess so… I don't mean any harm though, just passing through… It wouldn't be you who roared a few minuets ago would it?" I responded curiously.

She shook her head and took a seat, "So… You heard that too huh. I've never heard anything quite like it… well, except one night about ten years ago… but, why was it calling out for someone to stay…"

"As to why, your guess is as good as mine. But I'm pretty sure that it was calling out to me. And I'm also pretty sure that whatever made it is still waiting for me in the forest clearing…" I said cryptically, making her cock her head in confusion. While she pondered my statement, I noticed that odd shift in her shadow… like it was moving of its own accord, but my musings were interrupted by her curiosity.

"What makes you say that, and why the hell did you not use the trail?" she asked as I sat down myself, giving my feat a break.

"Well, for starters, the roar happened just as I was about to leave, and I just got a weird feeling from the trail… like… like whatever was calling me to stay also wanted nothing more than for me to come prancing down it into a trap…" I explained.

"It's good to trust your instincts… say, you wouldn't happen to need a guide would you? It's dangerous for humans, even those as stealthy as you, to travel alone you know." she said, eager to see if I was right.

"I'll take you up on your offer as a guide, so long as you can promise to be quieter than when you attempted to sneak up on me," I said, making her blush through her fur. "But as for protection, I think I can handle myself."

"Ok macho man, whatever you say. But if you get your ass in to trouble then I'm bailing." she responded.

"Just lead the way," I said, and she stalked off silently with me in toe.

With a native guide, I made excellent progress and the clearing was in sight in a matter of minuets. I backed myself against one of the trees ringing the edge of the glade and shifted my head to where I could see what was inside, moving at a painfully slow pace so to not be picked up by even the sharpest peripheral vision.

When my eyes finally adjusted to the additional light, I had to keep my jaw from dropping. In the middle of the clearing hovered the legendary Darkrai. It's back was turned to me and I smiled, reaching into the bag, that I forgot I didn't have, for one of my pokèballs. I swore silently and told my impatient guide what I saw, linking her mind with my eyes.

"Oh fuck… dude I'm sorry but I am sooooo out of here," she said and stalked off, quieter than even I thought possible.

I lingered for a few moments more, cursing my own unpreparedness, before doing likewise… Till I accidentally snapped a twig in my excitement. My heart sank and I cringed, turning my head to the now empty clearing. 'Yeah… I just fucking know that it's gonna be right behind me when I turn around…' I thought with a prayer before spinning around with a massive punch, hitting nothing but the empty air in front of me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and all the energy drain out of my body, 'Welp, that fuckin' figures too I guess…" I thought as I dropped to the ground and into unconsciousness.