Chapter 20: Best Friends, Worst Nightmare

It was late at night in The Cerise Institute. Work had long since halted for the day, and everyone was sleeping soundly. In Chloe and Lillie's room, the two were sound asleep, but not for long.

Chloe blinked her eyes open, drowsily surveying the room. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she got the feeling that she was being watched. Just as she was about to close her eyes again, she saw the items on her dresser begin to float in midair.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Suddenly, two eyes emerged from the shadows, their purple pupils staring into her soul. Chloe wasn't tired anymore, now she was scared.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The lights turned on, and the eyes disappeared. Lillie rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake.

"Chloe? What's going on?"

"Th-the-the eyes were there, and…"

Just then, their bedroom door flung open, and Ash and Goh came running in.

"What happened? We heard a scream!"

"Are you two alright?"

"I'm fine, but Chloe was scared by something."

All eyes were on Chloe, still shaking in fear.

"The stuff on my dresser started floating, and then there were these eyes, and…"

Ash and Goh carefully examined every inch of the room, but could find no evidence of an intruder. Eventually, they gave up

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now."

"Maybe you just imagined it."

"But I swear, it was right there!"

"Look, can we talk about this more in the morning? Its really late, and I really don't have the brain power for this right now."

"Yeah, me neither. Good night, girls."
"Good night."

But Chloe couldn't go back to sleep. Try as she might, she couldn't get her mind off those terrible eyes…

When the sun came up, she hadn't slept a wink. She barely managed to drag herself out of bed and to the kitchen. When everyone got a good look at her, they immediately recoiled.

"Chloe, are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just need…a little bit of…"

She couldn't even finish her sentence, falling face first into her bowl of cereal.

"CHLOE!"

"I'm awake! Need to…get ready…for school."

"Oh no, you're staying home today."

"But I can't! What about my schoolwork?"

"Don't worry Chloe, I'll go and get it."

"Really, Goh? You'll do that for me?"

"Of course! I need to go and talk to the Principal about graduating early anyway."

Chloe smiled, and gave him a big hug. Well, as big of a hug as she could muster given how tired she was.

"Thank you! I really…appreciate this…"

"Alright sleeping beauty, let's get you back to bed."

After Chloe had gone to sleep and Goh had left for school, Professor Cerise came up to Ash and Lillie to find out what was wrong.

"Did something happen last night? It's not like Chloe to stay up all night on a School night."

"Well, last night she claimed to see a pair of eyes watching her in the darkness."

"Eyes?"

"Yeah, but when we got there, we couldn't find anything."

Professor Cerise was silent for a minute, then walked away, much to his employees' confusion.

"What was that about?"

Ash just shrugged in confusion.

"Beats me."

Later that day, Chloe was up in her room. She had managed to catch up on her sleep, but her mind kept going back to those eyes. She was starting to become afraid to sleep in the room, in case they came back.

"Everyone says I imagined them, but I know I saw them! They had to be real, they just had to be!"

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Chloe? It's me, Goh. I got your classwork!"

"Come in!"

Goh opened the door, setting Chloe's books on her desk near her bed.

"Thanks Goh, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. How are you feeling?"

"Better, but I think I might sleep somewhere else tonight."

"Because of what happened last night? Chloe, are you sure…"
"Yes! You may not believe me, but I know what I saw! And I can't sleep here knowing that whatever that was could come back!"

Goh remained silent, before putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I believe you."

"Really? You do?"
"Chloe, I've known you for years, and I know you're not the kind of person to get so worried about nothing. If you're this worked up, something really wrong is going on."

"But what are we going to do? I can't go to sleep with that thing in my room?"

"Tell you what, how about Lillie sleeps in Ash's room tonight, and I'll stay guard here. If anything goes on, Me and Scorbunny will be there to protect you. Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Scorbunny!"

Goh was surprised when Chloe jumped on him, latching her arms around him tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"No problem. Um, can you let go now? It's getting kind of hard to breathe."

"Oh, right, sorry."

Later that night, the arrangements were made. Lillie stayed with Ash, while Goh set up watch in Chloe's room.

"Remember Goh, if anything shows up you wake me immediately! I want to look whatever's causing me so much trouble right in the face."

"Don't worry, Scorbunny and I will stay up all night if we have to."

"Bunny!"

Content, Chloe curled up into the covers and drifted off to sleep. For the first few hours, everything was still and quiet. Goh yawned, trying to stay awake.

"Man, I thought something would've happened by now. How are you holding up, pal?"

"Bunnnnny."

"Yeah, me too."

Trying to keep awake, Goh focused on Chloe. The young girl tossed and turned a minute before settling on a position, a happy smile on her face. Goh couldn't help but smile at her.

"You know, she's kind of cute when she's sleeping."

Just then, Chloe's dresser began to shake violently, the items on it falling to the floor.

"Uh oh, looks like it's game time. Chloe, wake up!"

"Huh? Is something happening?"

Just then, her mirror began to warp, and from behind it emerged a large Gengar, teeth barred in a menacing grin.

"GENGAR!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Don't worry Chloe, we've got it! Scorbunny, use-"

"Wait! We can't fight him here, we'll destroy the room!"

"Well, we've got to do something!"

Just then, Yamper came running in, barking fiercely. The Gengar actually stopped his pranks to stare at the little Pokemon.

"That's it! Yamper, use Spark!"

Yamper ignored Goh's command, and just kept barking.

"Yamper, come on! Attack!"

"Wait a minute! Yamper only eats the food from his bowl if I'm the one who sets it out. Maybe…Yamper, use Spark!"

This time Yamper responded, becoming an orb of electricity before ramming into the Ghost Type. Gengar, not having expected the attack to be so powerful, retreated out the window. Chloe was so happy that she scooped up the little canine and cuddled him while he licked her face.

"Yamper, you did it! Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are!"

"Yamp Yamp!"

"How would you like to sleep with me tonight? I know I can trust you to keep me safe."

Yamper didn't need telling twice, and promptly curled up at the foot of Chloe's bed. Goh sighed, and packed up his things.

"Well, looks like you should be good tonight. Get some sleep, Chloe. Luckily, tomorrow's the weekend."

"Goh, wait!"

Goh turned around to have Chloe kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks for protecting me. It means a lot that you believe me."

"No problem. Night."

"Night!"

Goh left to find another place to spend the night, while Chloe returned to her bed. Smiling, she picked Yamper up and carried him up to the front of the bed, cuddling with him under the covers. She looked forward to a good night's rest.