So, we're with Khrista in another dreamscape scene that was in the last edition of this story. If you guys can remember what's going to happen here, just know some things got switched around a little bit - not by much, though.

And thank you, faneevee2012, for the Follow!

Chapter 9 - Dreamscape, Part 2 (Khrista's POV)

I had only just managed to lie down and close my eyes when they snapped open again and I found myself staring at a soft blue ceiling; I was back in my "Dream House," I guess you could call it.

I climbed out of my bed and left the room, then went downstairs only to find that Ash was just coming into the family room. As soon as he saw me, he gave another one of those not-quite smiles.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Didn't you say that you liked to mess with other people's heads?"

"I figured I'd give them a night before going and giving them a good scare," Ash replied with a shrug. "Besides, I'd kind of like to see if another Pokemon will do anything."

Another Pokemon? Is he getting help from someone on the outside? Wait - messing with people's heads...there's only one Pokemon who does that.

I must've gotten such a look on my face, because Ash gave another nod, but he looked amused.

"Yup - that's right." Ash's amused look faded pretty quickly, though. "Telling you isn't the reason why I came around, though."

Oh? "What's up?"

"I want you to meet someone tonight." Ash held out a hand. "I can take you to him, but there are a couple things you've gotta do."

"What?" I hoped that it wasn't anything that was going to be too drastic.

"Close your eyes as soon as you get out of here, and don't let go. If you do, you're going to end up being sucked back to your dreamscape without a chance to grab me again."

Oh. Well, at least he didn't say "out of body experience."

I grabbed his outstretched hand in one of my own, and the two of us started for the front door of my "Dream House."

Honestly, if it's going to be called that, it's going to have to look more like me and less like my family's actual house.

Ash opened the door and started out of the house into the black void beyond. As soon as I set foot outside of the house, my eyes snapped shut without my say-so. My grip instantly tightened on Ash's hand, though, and I heard him mutter something under his breath.

I didn't catch all of it, but it sounded like he'd said "strong grip."

The next thing I knew, there was the sound of another door opening, and I nearly tripped over something.

"You can open your eyes now," Ash spoke up. I heard a door creak shut behind me, and I opened my eyes. They didn't want to open up as fast as I wanted, though - now I know the real meaning of heavy eyelids.

They opened up all the same, but I was in a dreamscape that I hadn't expected.

"Who's dreamscape is this?" I asked, looking around at the forest clearing we now stood in.

"Shoot, he's still asleep."

I turned my head to look at Ash, then followed his line of sight to a small spot of sunlight not too far away from the clearing. Lying in the leaf-dabbled spot was a yellow mouse with red cheeks and a lightning-bolt tail.

"Looks like we'll have to head back," Ash muttered under his breath.

"You're not going to wake him up?" I asked, frowning.

Ash gave me a wide-eyed look. "No way. He doesn't know that I can do this, and waking him up in here could get me killed!"

"Kill you? Why would -"

Apparently, Ash's words probably came out louder than he had intended, because the Pikachu opened his eyes, leapt to his hind feet, and promptly let out a yell as he unleashed a blast of electricity at us. I only just managed to run out of the way of the blast, while Ash ended up taking the full brunt of it and was left looking slightly singed.

But he didn't look dead - yet.

"What are you doing here?" Pikachu demanded, glaring at Ash.

Wait a sec - he can speak English? He didn't in the anime...

Hang on. This was kind of happening before - outside the citadel.

Can I understand PokeSpeak now?

"Is it bad enough that I have to deal with the one out there?" Pikachu made a motion with one paw, as though there was enough proof in our surroundings. "Get out! I don't want to see you dressed up like my Trainer!"

Ash took a step back, looking hurt. For some odd reason, he didn't look so singed.

"Wow " I stated, feeling a little lost for words. "When you said he wanted to kill you, you definitely weren't kidding."

Pikachu turned his attention to me, and he frowned cautiously. "Another one?"

I took a step back myself, feeling a little wary of the little Electric-Type. "I'm not like Ash, if that's what you mean. I kinda got yanked into this without a warning. My name's -"

"Don't!" Ash yelled in alarm, clapping a hand over my mouth.

I pulled back instinctively and gave him a curious look. "What's wrong with saying my name?"

"Do that, and Cyrus will find out when I wake up," Ash replied seriously. "And names have power around here - if he finds out, you're done for."

"Done for?" I frowned. I could see Pikachu looking back and forth between us out of confusion, but I didn't want to shift from Ash before I got an answer. "What do you mean?"

The Kanto Trainer gained a frustrated expression. "You're going to end up like the other kids is what I mean."

My eyes widened. "Whoa. That's a problem."

"What is going on here?" Pikachu spoke up, sounding annoyed.

Ash and I looked down at the Pokemon, and I gained a sheepish expression.

"Yeah...I'm kinda...not in his situation." I jabbed a thumb in Ash's direction.

"Then what are you doing with him?" Pikachu took a couple steps forward, pointing accusingly at Ash while keeping his eyes glued on me.

I shrugged. "He said he wanted me to meet someone."

"I'm right here, you know," Ash muttered, sounding annoyed. I ignored him.

"It was kind of a shock when you attacked," I added. "You're pretty strong."

Pikachu blinked, then frowned. "All right. What are you doing here, then?"

"I think Ash has got that answer."

Ash got down on his knees, looking the Electric-Type directly in the face - as directly as he could, at any rate, since Pikachu crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look at his Trainer.

Ash took in a breath and hesitated a moment before speaking. "The Lake Spirits are loose. Articuno did it when I brought her in." He glanced over at me, and I frowned.

"That was after I got knocked out, wasn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah." Ash gave a sheepish grin, then looked back at Pikachu. I noticed that the Electric Mouse had been eyeing Ash, but he quickly looked away when the Trainer when Ash looked back at Pikachu.

"I'm leaving Cyrus alone in the dreamscapes," Ash added. "I've been bugging him whenever I've fallen asleep, but I think it'll go to someone who knows what he's doing a whole lot better."

One of Pikachu's ears twitched, and he turned his head to look at Ash curiously. Some sort of look was passed between them, and Pikachu's eyes widened. "You have got to be kidding me."

What? Who was it that they were talking about? Wait. Right. That Pokemon.

Ash shook his head, a grin appearing on his face. "I'm not. And I'm hoping that he heard me, because otherwise I won't be able to see you because I'd have full hands."

Pikachu looked between Ash and I with wide eyes that were filled with excitement. "He's going to be really out of it. Do you think we can -"

"I don't know, but there's a big chance," Ash replied. He looked over at me, then moved up to stand on his feet. "There are a couple other people who are in the same situation that you are. I don't think that you'd be able to find them in time, but there is a chance that you'll be able to hunt them down. Eventually."

I blinked, and my eyes widened. "Really? How many?"

Ash shook his head. "I can't say. There's a lot of stuff that goes on when I'm out...doing things. I've got a couple guesses, but..." He shrugged, then paused and looked up at the blue sky. "I'd better get you back to your place. We don't have much time before you're going to get woken up again."

"How can you tell?" Ash gave me a deadpan expression. "Do you really want me to answer that question?" he asked flatly.

"Uh...something tells us I shouldn't."

Ash gave me a nod, then held out his hand for me to grab. Looking down at Pikachu, he stated, "I'll come back tomorrow night, okay?"

The Electric-Type gave a nod. "Yeah. Sure." He gave a sly smirk. "Man, when I yelled for you to break loose, I didn't think this would happen."

"It's been going on for a while, actually," Ash replied, surprising the Pikachu.

"Um, I kinda want to get back into my head, so if you don't mind..."

Ash looked over at me. "Right." He turned and started for the other side of the clearing, where a door materialized out of nowhere. Ash placed his hand on the doorknob, then looked back at Pikachu for another moment.

Then he threw the door open, and I shut my eyes. Next thing I knew, we were walking over the threshold of my own dreamscape.

"Thanks for helping me out back there with Pikachu," Ash stated as he shut the door behind him.

I opened my eyes much more easily than when I had entered Pikachu's dreamscape. Must be something about home, sweet home.

"It wasn't a problem - really." I looked over at Ash, then gave a dry smirk. "You would have gotten through to him even if I wasn't there; you're that stubborn."

Ash let out a short laugh - I figured that he was agreeing with me. "Yeah."

"Try and visit me again sometime, all right? I don't think they're going to let me know stuff because of who I am."

Plus, I never liked to be left in the dark.

"We'll see," the Kanto Trainer responded. He opened my front door again, then disappeared out into the void.

Yup. And now Ash and Pikachu are on good terms.

And you guys can probably guess who Ash was talking about before...if you know anything about dreams and scaring people. If you don't know, the Pokemon's name is going to show up sooner or later.

See you guys next week!