The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 2 Episode 5: Resolve

Spoiler:

”I̶̼͇͙̺̘̙̲̰̐̒̾͠n̶̛͚̺͍̮̦̣̳͂ͤ̈́͐̈́͡c̡̛ͧ̿̆̋̎͏̮̠̱͎͉̲͍̫r͋ ̧̺̟̞͖̻̬̼͑̒̀̕e̝͎͕̙̿̂̑ͅa̠̘͋̽ͬ̒̋s̙͂͂͊͘ḛ̪̗̞̏͑̐̿̿ͣ ̟ ̉̊͒ͥ͐͊͆̐ͣ͏͔̣̤͉͚̘v̛̻̲͖̝͖̤̑̐ͤ̽́͝o͙͈̼̺̟̱̤̮̾̓ͤ̀̀l̐͑͌̄͞ ̱̲̟͎͚̞͙̦̕t̞̭͓͚͇̞̙̱̦̓̎ȁ̪̬̬̙͔ͤ̌ͭ͒̅̾̾ͮ̀g̷̢͎͙͚͐ͪͫͨ̾ě ̙͎̠͖͕ͮ ̪́̄͋̓̊ͬͫ̆̀b̦̞̥̿͆͋̈́̔ỹ̱̞̪̪̣̓ͪ͑̅́̂ͩ ̥̱̳̰ͦ͌̽̓͆ͭ͡ͅs̛̝͍̠̍i̠̝̬̩̰̤̠̖̽̒̀ͩ͐ͭ͘͠x̧̡͔͖̦̙̼̟͆̾̂͊́͌ t̢̩̗̘̪̣̠̣̩̓̓y̼̹̲̗͕̖̪̥̐̍̓́ͪ̇ͧ͗ͣ͢ ̸̸̱͇͉̬̮̺̟͉̲̌p̴̫̊͆̇ͪ͐e͇̣͈̮͎̻̭̮ͦ̃̌͊ͨ̊͠r̻̞̤͔̞͌̐ͭ̌ͮ͘͢ͅ c̸̲̫̓̒̄̈͐̎ͮè͆̇ͭ̌̇̎͝͏̠̺͈͖̳̭ñ͏͈͕̦̜̱̼͙͖͇t̳̰̥̤̫ͧͣ̀͌̕ ̼̺̻.̳̦͖̫̲̌̊̀̕.̸̔ͫ̚͟͏̹̙̤͈.̢̛͙̭̫͖͈̳̟͈͉͆̍̂͝”


It has been only moments since the last shock, feeling energy blasted through me. I can’t see or hear, my only sense being the foreign thoughts of those around me. And every time a command is given, I feel as if I am going to burn from the inside out.

I’m no stranger to this feeling. Right after the shell protecting me was destroyed, I felt a shock, however, whilst it hit extremely hard, it was of little substance, and passed as soon as it came. It left me more alert, but did little else. These on the other hand are far different…

The humans that do this to me follow a pattern. For the amount of time I spend with them in my presence, I spend twice as much alone, which I find myself thankful for. Whilst I don’t understand it, for every five of these cycles they have, there is the equivalent of two where I am left alone. The first time it happened, I thought they had decided to show mercy. Then they returned. After the third of these five to two cycles, I understood the pattern. There is solace in knowing roughly how long they will torture me for, and especially knowing there will be a larger break towards the end of each of these larger cycles.

There have been three of the five-two cycles where they have been torturing me. The first of the two cycles, I felt different touches to myself. Some were sharp and thin, attempting to cut me, and others were blunt, heavy impacts, attempting to shatter me. However, none were successful, not even hurting. I didn’t even realize they were attempting to torture me until the week after. That’s when I was placed somewhere, where the air around me began to heat. At first I thought nothing of it, however eventually it became uncomfortable, and after that, painful. And the pain only got worse.

I tried reaching out to the humans, to beg them to stop, however my attempt to communicate failed, not getting past their own thoughts. Or so I thought.



“T̢͂̈́҉̸̻̟͇̜̻ĥ̺̠̤͕͎̹̱͂̏̄̏̌̒͟͠ḛ̛͓͚ͥͬ͛̂r̪̓̋͗ͦ̇̐ͥ̕͝͞ ̟̠̯͖e̶̡̻͓͙͍̖̥̓̃̈́ ̡̨͎̦̘͈̞͚̂͊͌ͅẖ̴̴͕͓̲̘̟͔̃ͣ̽͠a̶̪̩͍͎̐̿̓̋̓ͨ̅͌͞͝sͫ̒̐ͯ͒̓̚ ̸͎̑͂ ͇̰͖̱̗̪̜͂ͤ̒ͮͯ͒͗̕b̛̫ͩ̆ͪ̊́ͩͬ̀́̚͠ẹ̶̮̰̣̝͇͉̫͑̊ͬ̎̎͌̽ͦeͨ̏ ͈̭̜͑ͥ̅ͦ͢͞n̠̥̹̂͗̀ ̞͉͚̖͒̊ͮ̏͗ͬͧ̈a̙̹͓ͬ͗ͯ͡ ͕̪̹̫ͫ̅̓̿̏͡r̢̲͕͓͖͕ͩ̊̀͝eͫ͌҉͏҉̟̺̯̠̪a̧̮͔̹͍̲̠͕̜̽͗̑͊͛͊c̿ ̫̳̭̲̞̟̱̮̈ͫ͗̐͑̈̏t̵̪̟̀̇̎̽͞͞ͅi̛̬͔ͮ̅̏͒̕o̠͕͇̿͞ͅn̡̯ͪ͑̿̀͟ ͈̭͍̝̯͓!̨͖ͤ̇ͥ̚͝”


The humans all suddenly became excited and I began to understand when the temperature started to increase at a higher rate. I’d attempt to communicate, and whilst it seemed like they weren’t understanding me, it also seemed like they somehow knew I was trying to, and would get excited, only making my situation worse. That was when I realized they were torturing me…

Since then, I have endeavoured to not react. If I react, and beg them to stop, they get what they want, and continue at a greater pace. At least if I give them no reaction, they will continue, but progress slower. Granted, remaining silent during this torment is easier said than done.

After a five-two cycle of heat, the humans changed their tactic, reducing the temperature to that well below what is natural. And again, my resolve was tested, trying to not give the humans what they were after. But naturally, I broke, and things became worse.

When the humans aren’t here, and I feel I have the strength, I reach out, attempting to connect with the consciousness of someone who may help me. Whilst it was difficult at first, I managed to find the mind of the human that carried me what felt like so long ago, wrapping me in a soft cocoon and wanting to protect me. After many attempts, it became easy to find that mind, however I found myself with the same problem. My attempts are too weak to breach the running thoughts of the human mind.

However, I also discovered that for roughly half the time I am left alone, the humans aren’t actively thinking, instead resting, with their subconscious taking control. I have attempted to reach the human during this time, knowing they can’t understand my thoughts, but trying to share my experience, to let them know I need help.

Yet here I remain. The human is aware of my attempts to a degree, however they don’t understand. It seems as if they cannot remember the majority of what I share with them once their mind becomes active, so every break, I reach out, hoping that with repetition, they will piece together the smaller parts, and realize I need their help.

That’s if the humans here don’t kill me first. This cycle, they are sending pure energy into me, increasing the force of it and the amount, and I don’t know how much more I can take.



A̷͕ͫ́̿ͦ̚n̞͔̪̼̍ͦố̘͓̞͍͙̥t̴̯̰̳͎̩̓̓̂ͣͭ̔̿͝h̘̻̙͇̩̼͑͗ͩ̀ ̤̦ẽ̛̛͇͓͕̫̥͕͓͚ͥ̏̐ͦͦŗ̸̻͕͋͗͆ ̭͇͎̯͔̘̏͆͂͐̔̂́͠ę͚̫̥͔̳̤̮̓̀̃̄͒ͯ͘ĭ̥͚͉͖̮ͅg̶̯̈́̍ͫ̊̿ͤ͗͗́ ̞͚̞̗̝h̹̖ͦͩ̐̈́͠ţ̸̠̳̗ͨ͊̊̔y͔̙͉̰̤̍͑͒̊̓͗̌ ̜̼͔͚̏ͫͩͅp̛̼͚̾͑ͨͨ͒ë̩̯͎̮̜̮̱̗͂͂̂̈̆ͮͤ̓͞r̶̛̲̜ͮ̍͑ͩ͊ͩ͊̚c ͍̆̓̉̋̅ͨ́ẹ̽͌̂ͧ̊͊n̤͔̻͌ͩ̄ͤ̕t̨̨̳̦̲̘̗̎̅̾̔ͪ͛ ̧̘̭͉͈̳ͬ̅̈́ͥ͂̆v̡͙͕̠͈̖ͪ̽o̠ͩͤͭ̉ͤl͑ͥͭͧ̂͂͏̧͖̦t͕͛ͮͭ͋̋̄ͫa̾ ͩͫͨ̓͏̴̯̠̺̞̙̬̩̹g̡̯̞̀ͩ̔ͧ͡e̒͆̋̂҉̷̰.̴̴͇̊͌̉̑̐͆͐͡.̷ͮ̒ͣ̍̓ ̗̹.̨͉̐̀̀



Charlotte awoke, covered with a thin layer of sweat. As she took deep breaths, gaining an awareness of her surroundings, the majority of the dream, or more so, the nightmare, she had just had began to fade from her memory.

The nightmares started three weeks ago, and since then have become more and more common, to the point where it was Friday, and this week she had not gone a single night without them.

Quickly checking her phone, she saw the time was a little after 2am. Knowing attempting to sleep straight away with all this on her mind would just result in more nightmares, she slipped out of bed, before making her way out of the cabin barefoot, into the warm, summer night air.

Between the two lodges were three wooden tables with seating built around them, where Charlotte found herself, trying to process what she had been dreaming about. If it wasn’t difficult enough, given how fleeting the memories of dreams are, these were different. They were black, and silent, the only sensations being touch, and by extension, pain, as well as other senses that she did not have naturally nor understand.

“Can’t sleep?”

Charlotte turned to see Dylan approaching in a pair of shorts and loose fitting t-shirt. She was surprised that she didn’t notice him sooner.

“No…” Charlotte responded. “I’ve been having a lot of nightmares recently, and I don’t know why…”

Dylan sat opposite her at the table, and looked up at the full moon in the sky.

“What sort of nightmares?”

“I don’t even know…” Charlotte replied, frustration apparent in her voice. “I struggle to remember the good dreams after I wake up, and these, deep down I don’t want to remember.”

Charlotte looked up at the moon as well, only seeming to notice the size of it now.

“On top of that, these dreams are weird. I can’t see or hear anything, but for some reason I don’t find that unusual in my dreams. Instead, I can only feel touch, and seem to have some other senses that I don’t understand,” Charlotte explained. “Every time, it is just wave after wave of pain, as if I’m being tortured. Even worse, I have always been able to tell if I am dreaming, and wake myself up, but now, it seems like I can’t…”

“Hmm…” Dylan muttered to himself. “If you don’t mind me asking, did anything happen that could have triggered these? Something traumatic maybe?”

Charlotte shook her head.

“Life is better than it’s ever been. That’s what is so confusing about all of this…” Charlotte replied. “Like, I could understand if this happened to Abbee, since it’s nearing a year since she lost her dad. But I’ve got nothing like that on my mind…”

Dylan remained silent, as an idea began to form in his mind. It was far-fetched though, and he didn’t want to worry her on as little as an idea.

“I wish I knew how to help…” Dylan said, as he began to stand. “I’d better get to sleep, but if you have some earbuds, maybe try listening to quiet music, or white noise. Maybe that will steer your subconscious somewhere a little nicer.”

“I’ll try…” Charlotte replied. “Thanks for coming out anyway. It was nice to be able to talk about it if nothing else.”

“Any time.”

Dylan began to walk away, before Charlotte had a thought.

“So why were you up at this time?”

“Chris brought his Switch, and he and Justin only stopped playing it an hour ago, and woke me up…” Dylan muttered, rolling his eyes. “I haven’t been able to get back to sleep since.”

“I’m sure if you knock their door in, they will get the message…”

Dylan laughed, which surprised Charlotte slightly. She still wasn’t overly used to hearing him talk as much as he did, which still wasn’t a great deal, but a laugh was definitely something new.

“Try and get some sleep,” Dylan explained. “Your first class tomorrow is with me, so if you want to sleep in a little later, I can cover your group.”

“Thanks…” Charlotte replied, very seriously considering taking him up on that.

Dylan left, as Charlotte looked up again at the night sky, wondering how long she would be suffering from these nightmares.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was 8:20am when Jon found himself in the dining room, where he did a quick headcount to make sure all were accounted for. When he found himself at thirty-nine, one person shy, he quickly rattled off the students he knew were most likely to miss breakfast, and was somewhat surprised to see they were all present. He sighed, knowing that if it wasn’t one of them, figuring out who was missing would be more difficult.

He saw Chris and Justin sitting together at one table, with a few of the students in their groups, and Abbee sitting with his niece Rose, and Dylan, and suddenly it became a lot more obvious.

Jon made his way towards Abbee’s table, greeting the students there before kneeling down next to Abbee, speaking quietly as to not let the younger students hear.

“Do you know where Charlotte is?”

Before Abbee could reply, Dylan tapped Jon on the shoulder, before gesturing elsewhere and getting up. Somewhat surprised, Jon followed to a quieter section of the room.

“I told Charlotte since her group is in my class, she can sleep in,” Dylan explained. “I found her sitting outside at 2am last night, because she has been having intense nightmares for weeks. Apparently she is dreaming she is blind, deaf, and in excruciating pain, like she is being tortured or something…”

“Goddamn…” Jon muttered, shocked to hear this had been happening. “Good call giving her the morning off.”

Dylan nodded, as Jon continued.

“Can you keep me informed if things change?” Jon asked. “Charlotte is too independent to want me to know about this, so I won’t say anything to her. But it is worrying…”

“Yeah, I know,” Dylan said. “Hopefully this is just a phase, and passes before too long.”

Jon nodded, and Dylan wished he believed that himself. He had a few ideas, but Jon wasn’t the person to confirm them.

Jon left not long after, not having any classes he was teaching in the morning, and before too long, the person Dylan wanted to speak to entered the building. Steven Stone. Dylan approached the Hoenn Champion, who greeted him with a grin.

“Morning Professor,” Steven said to Dylan jokingly, causing Dylan to chuckle a little. Dylan did find it odd that he was teaching at the Eon Academy alongside the Hoenn Champion, and Steven seemed to enjoy the fact as well, even though this was their fourth week here.

“Morning,” Dylan said, before looking around to make sure nobody was listening in. “You got a minute?”

“Of course.”

Dylan led Steven to one of the empty classrooms, closing the door behind him.

“What’s up?” Steven asked, a little concerned by the effort Dylan was going to.

“Charlotte has been having consistent nightmares for weeks, seemingly out of nowhere. And something doesn’t seem right…” Dylan explained. “It’s the same thing nearly every night, and she says nothing has happened that she is aware of to trigger it…”

“I’m sorry to hear that, really,” Steven said. “But I’m not quite sure why you’re talking to me about it, and not Jon? I mean, while she is here, she is technically under his care.”

“Because you have a bit of authority as Hoenn Champion…”

Steven crossed his arms, not sure where Dylan was getting towards.

“Okay, now you have me curious,” Steven replied. “What do you want me to do?”

“I think there are two causes for consistent nightmares like this. The first being some form of trauma which doesn’t seem overly likely…” Dylan explained. “The second, being some sort of outside interference.”

“Pokemon causing nightmares in other Pokemon is pretty standard in some battle strategies. And growing up, I remember kids telling scary stories of a Pokemon in Sinnoh that causes uncontrollable nightmares,” Dylan continued. “Nearly a month ago, Charlotte found what we believe may be a Pokemon, that even Latios couldn’t understand, and a week later, Charlotte starts having unexplained, consistent nightmares every night.”

“You want me to look into the Space Centre?” Steven asked, understanding Dylan’s reasoning.

“It may just be coincidence, but I want to make sure that it is looked into,” Dylan replied. “Even if it’s just asking what they have discovered about the thing Charlotte found so far, and if there is any chance it could be reaching out telepathically…”

“I’ll make some calls,” Steven said. “I can’t guarantee the stiffs at the Space Centre will give up any information easily, but I will do what I can.”

Dylan nodded, before hearing the door begin to open, and seeing Chris walk into the room. Dylan would be teaching Chris, Charlotte and Justin’s group in that room for first session, and didn’t realize how close to 9am it was.

“Am I interrupting something?” Chris asked, as he made his way to a table.

“Just telling Steven how my obnoxious neighbours woke me up at 1am with their shouting about a blue shell…” Dylan retorted as Steven started laughing. Chris chuckled to himself.

“I think you’re just jealous we forgot to invite you in to join us.”

“Of course…” Dylan replied sarcastically, as Steven said goodbye and made his way into the room next door. Before too long, the classroom was full with Dylan and twenty-three students, and Dylan’s focus was on the lesson he had to deliver.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was early evening when Dylan’s phone began to buzz. He was sitting at a table in the dining room, consisting of himself, a few members of his group, and a few of their friends from other groups, mostly Abbee’s as they did classes together. The caller ID read Steven Stone.

“Excuse me…” Dylan said, before exiting the building, and answering the phone.

“Hey, what did you find?”

“Not much but a whole lot at the same time,” Steven explained. “Found out nothing about the orb that Charlotte found, because it was transferred to a larger facility in Unova that was better suited to finding out what it is. It was on the island for three days before being transferred.”

Dylan wasn’t sure whether to be irritated or relieved. On the one hand it was good that these nightmares weren’t being caused by some alien Pokemon, but on the other, he was no closer to finding out why Charlotte was having these nightmares, and finding a way to stop them.

“Not sure whether that is a good thing or not…” Dylan replied.

“It’s really not, if I’m being honest,” Steven explained. “The Space Centre shouldn’t have done that without getting the all-clear from the League, given at this point this thing is most likely some sort of Pokemon, and if jurisdiction over it changes, things may fall through the gaps. I certainly wouldn’t have approved it if the decision came through me.”

“Understandable.”

“So what’re your next moves?” Steven asked.

“It could quite easily still be a Pokemon of some sort. Maybe a Psychic type that has adapted a Nightmare attack to affect humans,” Dylan explained. “I’ll borrow Latios from Jon, and see if he can help me try and see if something is causing this…”

“You think Jon will lend you Latios?” Steven asked.

“If I pitch it right,” Dylan replied. “I will tell him the truth once I have had a chance to look into it all a bit more.”

Dylan ended the call before making his way into the dining hall, where Chris was walking from his table to place his dishes on the rack that would be loaded into the dishwasher. Dylan walked behind him, waiting for him to turn around. When he did, Chris jumped a little.

“Can I help you?” Chris asked, almost sarcastically, and seemed worried when Dylan smiled.

“Actually, I think you can…” Dylan replied. “I need you to cover for me tomorrow with Jon’s seminar in the afternoon. I’ll return the favour next week of course.”

Saturday afternoons, Jon would run a three hour seminar for half the students at the Academy, usually based off age, and two interns would be scheduled to assist in running it. Tomorrow was supposed to be Charlotte and Dylan.

“Hard pass, sorry,” Chris replied. “I have plans tomorrow.”

“Those plans are playing Mario Kart with Justin…” Dylan retorted. “I could hear you making them at 1am this morning…”

Chris began to stutter hearing this, before Dylan continued.

“Do me this favour, and I won’t tell Jon that the reason the internet here has been so slow is because you used a month's data downloading Switch games,” Dylan interjected. Chris’ eyes widened.

“Bulls**t…” Chris argued. “You don’t know that was me…”

“Who do you think set up the network here, and can monitor which devices are hogging all the bandwidth?”

Chris scowled as Dylan began to walk away.

“I owe you one. Though I didn’t get to sleep again until 3 last night, so you can say we are even…” Dylan said as he walked. “Cheers buddy, I’ll let Jon know you’re covering for me…”

“What the f**k just happened…” Chris muttered to himself. “Did I just get shaken down by Dylan?”

It didn’t take Dylan long to find Jon, who stood in the kitchen, talking to one of the cooks.

“You got a second?”

“Of course,” Jon replied.

“Firstly, Chris has offered to cover my shift tomorrow with the seminar, so he will be there instead of me, and I’ll cover his next one,” Dylan explained, as Jon nodded. “Secondly, can I borrow Latios for the weekend?”

Jon raised his eyebrows at the request.

“Why do you need Latios for the weekend?”

“I have heard some rumors from a couple of the campers,” Dylan lied. “Firstly, that they are sneaking out at night, and secondly, that some of the older guys are thinking about checking out Shoal Cave while you’re running the seminar tomorrow afternoon. If Latios could catch out three witches, I think a few hormonal teenagers shouldn’t be too difficult…”

“He’d definitely be helpful…” Jon said, thinking it over. They nearly had a student die in Shoal Cave last year and something like this needed to be looked into. “Are you sure you don’t want me to look into it?”

“You have the seminar, and if they are from my group, I should be the one to handle it,” Dylan explained, “They won’t have any respect for me if any time I have to lay down the law, I get you to do it instead…”

“That is true…” Jon replied, mulling over what Dylan had said. “I’m just surprised I haven’t heard any of this.”

Dylan steeled himself for the low blow he was going to have to make to convince Jon. Whilst it wasn’t very obvious, Dylan had noticed in the last year, Jon having a slight complex about his age, especially after turning thirty.

“I had a younger camper mention overhearing it to me,” Dylan explained. “I think he just felt more comfortable telling someone closer to his age about it. Like I could relate to him more…”

Jon sighed hearing the explanation, before resigning to his fate of being the old man amongst the crowd of teenagers. He unclipped Latios’ Pokeball, handing it to Dylan.

“Be careful with him,” Jon explained. “He has grown up a bit in the last two years, but I am not completely convinced he will revert to flying through walls if someone else is his trainer…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****


”Ỷ͎͍̼͓̦̃ͯ̀o͖̝̒̾̉̃̈̃͡u̺̬̘ͮ̐ͩ̓ͥ̅͆͟͝ ͚̙͉͎̍͐a̧̗̦̫̺̱͉͚͎ͫ͂͑̑ͧ͂̀̚͜r̶̴̙̯͔̍͂ͤẻ̴̡̥̥̆͘ ̷͔̈̐̊ͣ͐̾̔̓͞ǎ͎̰̝̤̤͌ͯͫ͂͒̆ͭb̅͆ͬ̂̋̈́͏͙͚̤̭̞ș̶̘ͩͮ̄͂͋o͊̾ ͔̭͈̰̥̣͂̈ͤl̸̷̩̖̒̽̆ͫ͑̉͡u̷̗͍ͪ̾͊̽̒͆̓́ͮ̀t̵͓̤͈̞͊̈́ͧ͞e͒̽̕͠ ̪͔̩͙͈̰l̴̢̙̝̰̥̳̖͉͓̦̔y̼̤̣̞̗̗̜ͫ̈́͗̄̚ ̡͈̻̰̩̎͂͑̽ͭͬs̷͔̤̜̯̫̽̀ͅͅų͔̥͕̘̳̭̈́ͨ͛ͬ͑͂́̒ͪ͡ͅrͣ̀̾ͣ̽̍̇̚ ͇̺̻̜͕̘̲e̵̼̺͉̓̀ͣͤͤ̃͘͘?̛͍͎̗̑̅ͩ̎̋͊”



The humans seem to be communicating much more during this cycle, and something seems to have frightened them. I am grateful, as this cycle is the last before reprieve, and they seem less focused on tormenting me.




“Í͉̠̟̤̦̃̽ͫ̐ͪ̉́̀͡ͅ'̝̩̱̳̻̤͐ͮͥ̀ͪͯ̕͟m̸̗̟̪̟ͧͦͦ̓͋̅ ̺͓ ̵̼̺͖͓̜̄͐ͮͅp̨̖̯̝͛̋͑͗̀͡ö̴͎̝͖͎̭͇ͦͣ̊͊̚s͖̒ͣ̄̐͆͌̆͘͞i̊͛́ ̖̜ͪ͆ͬ͘t̛̘̳̺̲̝̃̽̉̂̇̚͘i̵̠̮͚͚̠̍̀́̂͝v̀̅ͭ͛͏͕̺̼͎e͖ͯ̾̌͋͂͟ ̹̝.̩̝̳̖̦̪̝ͪ ̤͚͔͈̖̻̬̎ͨ̋ͮ͐͌ͩ̈́̐W̹̬̹͎̫̬͕͌ͪͥ̍̋̇̓̀ͅę͎̜̤̻̜͇̮̹ͥ͗ ͇̗̜̟̲̳̘͑ͫͯ̇̚͜ͅa̦͍͇̰̹̺ͭ̆ͪ̈́̽͒ͤͮͧr̹̙̖̍̂ͭͩ̆̽̚eͭ̒́ͪ̔ͮ̆͆ ̸͇̖͉̱͒̕ ̸̵̜̹̹̟̮͎̥̈ͨ̎̏̋̎̄̿f̢̞̦̝͓̻͛a̧̤̥̺̞͇͚̘̜ͩͮ̋͆͑̉͑͝r̨̒ ̴̪̫̞ ̘̺̥̥̠̉̾ͧͣͩe̸̘̞̜̪̰̯̝̙͐ͨ̅ͦņ̖͍̘̠̋̌̉̇ͧ̓̄͗ò̷̙̭̜̝ͥ̋u̐ͧ ̽ͪ̒̒͏̯̻̥̯͚ͅg̛̖̱̱ͭ̿̉ͯ͞h̝͈̻̯̹̺̹ͤ̅͌̐͞ ͇̺̬̩͍̞͈͎͂̆̋́͡d̪͕̝̔̂o̶̴̙͙̳̳͉̹̰ͤ̕w̧͋̊̎̈́̐ͫͪ̉́҉̦̞̫̮͔̖̯ n̵̗̔̽̕ ͎̱͎̫͕̙͛̈́̚͢t̶̘̘̱͊ͥ̊̌̂ͅḫ͎̥͚͎̦͔͋ͣ̿͑̔̅̚ͅä́̃̌͊̈́̚҉̨̠̟͙͎ ̘͓ͅt͒̍҉͍̫̤̙̟̤̞̀͠ͅ ̶̧̣̰̠ͫ͐ͬ͟n̰̺͙̜͇̙̱̗̋͘͞o̠͔̘̮͎͍̪͌̅̅ͮ̊̓̀ṱ̡̰̣͑̒̃̀̿̃̾͘͜ ̠h̴͖͈̮̮͙̭̪ͪͅi̺̰̮͛̽͗͒̓ͮͪ̚n̛͔͓̤͙̳̼͋̑ͣ͂͋͝g͌̋̎̂ͣ̉̽́͞҉̖ ̣̫ͅ ̡̬̺͋ͧ́s̝̖͈̞̙̗ͤ̒ͧͤ̀ͦ̋̇h͔̤̰̱̦̩ͮ̔̇̑̉̆͝ͅo̳ͤ̑ͯ͋̇̕uͯ̔͋̊̓ ̉̒͝͏̬̝ͅḷ̺̘̣͚ͥͪ̃ͭ̊͌d͕͍͔̝̪͚͋̀̑̊̊ ̘̺̲̼͈̝̳͉ͯͨ̕d̛̜̰̫͎̰͓̎͛̅̅́e̼̝̖̗͙͔̮̫͂̓ͨ̎͗ť̢̪̀̄̅͊́e̒̆ ̠̟̩̰͇ͬ͝c͖̭̙ͫ̈́t̷̡̧͎̊ͯ̈ͥ ̢͂̃̂ͫ͊ͫ̎ͅṭ̞͈̘̘̞̣̈ͪ̀͢h̻̜͚̣̤̹̟̆́͡e̜̦̘̭͈̬͇͐͗̇͡ͅ ̷̸̱̻̮ͤŝ͍̯̤̤̣̱̭̠̗ͬ̒͗̇̎p̧̨͓̘̞̥͕̻̩̝͓ͦ̊̑̄͒ͮ͢eͫ͊ͩ̑͌̑͝͞ ͉̹̟̗̯̲c͓͚͉̳̤͚̑̈́ͪ͋̎ͅi̖̹̙̗̲̹ͬͯ͛́́ṃ̛͚̘̘̘̙̞̻̽ͣ͊͂̓̆̏͜e ̲̼̩̘͋̅̾ͦ̚n̛̝̘̖̙͈̣͚̉͒.̜̒̓̊ͭͅ”




“T̛̜̗͕͔ͯͩͨ̌͡h̀̀ͯͣ͗ͣ͌҉͔̝̼͝e̛̲̜̹̥̳͗͑ͭ̏ͤ̏ͯ́̚ͅ ̛̲̳͖̗̟̼̜ͨ̌͂ͮt̛͎͕̺̍̿͞r̸̢̹͈̱̣̰ͧ̈́ͅả̞͙̆̑͂̌͊ͤ͌i̎̌ͣ̾̓͑ ̭͕ͯͦ̀n̲̜̪̠͇̥̋ͧͮͧ͡e̪͖̟͖͖͇̅͋ͩ̐̊͛ͨr̯̺͚̫͙ͫ͒̈́͌̕ ̢̝̘̘͖̦͗͂̌̇͌w̧̘̻̳̭ͥ͊̀̉̑̈́͜͟h̶͓̼̞̹ͪ̅̃̄ȏ̴̱̭̼ͨ̽̌͞ ̣͚̼̑̉̾͑ȑ̞̰̋u̴̢̪ͨͫͥ̍ͨͪ́͐͟n͓̹͉̺̼̍̎̉ͯ̚͘s̛͒́ͩ͊͏̫͝ ͍̼ ͈̩͙͕̯͈̯̿̑̑ͣ͡t͕̙͍̋̌̿ͨ̅h̰͎̫̱͇̙́ͣ͋̈́́͐a̸͎͉͓͕͓̜͒ͭ̆͒̾ͮ̋̽ ͇t̅̈̈́͊̔̀͝͏͏̣̻̮̩̫ͅͅ ̸̝͎ͨͪ̾̀ś͊͐ͥ̈͏̴̦̹͓̝̖̠́ͅc͚̼͚̟̼̲ͯ̔͂̂ͣͪḩ̴̫͈̈̊͝o̵͆͐̌̂ ̪̠̗̤̥̫ơ͚̣̬̞ͤ̒͢͜l̃̐͐͒ͮͭ͝͏̴͓̠̺̘͔ ̨͖̥͙̫̗̞̐ͬh̘͖̼̖̝͖̫̻̉́ả͚̫̜͈ͭ̉̾̋ͣ͝s͉̬̟̿͗̃̑̉̈́͂͆͢͝ ̞̯̯͇ ̰͇̔̈́̿̃́͒a̹̜͌͗̈́̎̀ ̱̥̠͇̼͂̀͠͝L̥̱̩̖̖̇͐ͯ̽̎̑̔̑́̕a̴̛̪̐̽ͦͦ͌͌ͅt̶͇̟̓͆̉̎̓ͧͬ̐̽̀ ̥̪͕̥͍̠ḭ̩̮̌ͨ̂ͯ̓ͮ̌̿͜͢ò̯̹͖͍̤͐͒̆̾̕͞s̶̲ͧ̋̀.̰͕̯̺ͦ̓́̌ͫͭ ͇ ̡̖̳͚̄̀̏̂̚C̯͈͙̣̜̩̻̆̋̐͛͌͒̈̚ͅo̩̙̍̏̈́̓̿̈̉̚͢ü͙͙̓͛ͧͧͭ̅͘͠ ̠l̜̺ͧͣ̎̍͠d̢͚̫̖̣͋̌ͬ̈́̽̕ ̶̬͕̠̫̬͍̣ͨͫ̓͋͐̇̅̃͠t͍̳͎̺̘͚̬̒ͬ̏́h͉͔̣͚̬͇ͣ̀ͩͣ̎̽ͯ͜ͅaͭ̏̎ͯ ͑ͦ͌͏̲̳̬̪̺̘͖ͅt̖̥̜̳͕̦̺̩̅̆̊ ̣͉͙͚̯͙͉͉͇̓ͤͮ̇͑̅ͬͯͩ͘͠d̢̙͓͖̠͍͎̫̩̔ͣͤ̈̅ͅe͚͛ͨͩ̐ͧ̇ͮ̒ͥ́̕͡ ͈t̨̟͍̫͎̹͙̻͖̎͂̎̐̓̀͡e̻̣͕̭̹̳ͣ͐̂̃́ͨ̾͌͌c̶͕͓̬͔̿̐̅ͥͣͣͤ͐͒́ ̭̗ͅt̶̲̪͇̳̐ͤͨ̂ͦ̓̎͝͝ ̧̨̛̻͎͉̰̰ͪ͂i̛̮͔̜͂̑͊͝t̖̻͍̜̻͉̺͐̎͊͢͞͞ͅ,̝͕̬͈̯̫̓ͫ̇̀ ̢̪̟̭̅̽̇̚͟ͅḽ̸͈̳͔̣͉̲̤̠ͥ̈́̃͋ͣ̒í͕̹̟̿ͯ̂̀́́̕k̆ͧ̅҉̢͕̪̩̰͜ ̮̞̪e̥͌̀͠ ̡̫̞̬̫̯͓̈́̏ǐ̃͛̈́͢͏̺̝͕̦t̲̣̜͖͎̐ͯ̑̾̃ͪ̀͝͡ ̸̸̛̯ͯ̾d̼͙͑͋ͪ̀iͥͮ̇̋ͫ̒ͬ̿͋͏̯͈̬d̷̠͎̟̝̻͉̖ͪͦͨ́̐̾ ̷̳͉͙̥̖͕̘͗͋̓̉́̚t̵͎͚͔̰͚ͨ́h̘̜̟̗̘̝̣̻̅̂̏ͭ̔̿̎̀̕ȇ̄̂̉͛̈̃̿ ̛̟͉͢ ̨͙̮͈̍̾ͣ̉̆͌́D͈͋ͦ͌̉̿͐͟i̛͉̻͎͇̮̭͉͊̆ͭ̐ͮ͞a̢̬̥ͤ̃͂ͧ̄͌͟mͭ͒ͥ ̶͉̱͚͉̞̞̪ͬ̊͛̉o̼̱̰̼̟̣ͨ̃ͥ̂͊͠nͣͪ̂̇ͩ̈́ͯ̈́҉̧̦̠̝̝̙̫̬́ͅd̡ͤ͢͠ ̰̠͖̣̪̩͕͍ ͚̰͕̟̰̊̂̇͐̿͌̂̕͘L̯͎͎̠̻͐̒ͣͤ͊̂̀͠ą͈͈͎͇͎̙̯̖ͧͯ̂ͬ͒̓͘͜d̈͐ͪ ̭̳̥͈̬ͭï̛͈̤̲̤ͤͦ̀͛̔̃̿e̴̫̪̳̯̬ͦ̀̚̕s̢̺̫͖̪͈̘͙͙̻̑͛ͬͦ̚͢͡? ̘ͨ͌̐ͪ̽ͪ̄ͯ ̜̱̬̲̥̬̠ͫ͊ͩ̅́̚”





“W̮̰͗ͧ̏̒̑ͤ̒̚͢e̫̣̯͔̳̠̦͊̑̚ͅ ̧̤̦̲͈͚͈̞̖ͪ̉̄́͡ã͈̖̖̜̤͕̮ͅr̴̖̞͈͚̱̙̊͐ͅe̸̛͙̣̻ͭ̍̐͐ͬͦ̋͊ͅ ̲͇ ̶̛̭̖̺͚̳͎̝͙̐̽̏́̚t̸̠̤͇̜̝̟̙̃ͣ͊ͧ́o͈̦ͯo̍͏̸͓̤ ̠̖͕̖̮̺̥ͤͣͣͬ́ͩͭ͋͘͟f̧͈̱̦̩͈̪̮̍̂͡a͇̲̩̐ͥ͞͠r̠̭̓̉̈͢ ͎̯͎̪ͪ̆ͯ͂ͅu̵̴͉̰̣͔̼͚̗̠̾ͩ͛̽̒͒ͯ̚n̟̳̱͖ͮ̅̇ͯ͌̎͛̚͜d̫̲̯ͬ̄͘ͅ ̰͇̗̱e̙̞͉͎̟̭̳̻̅̏̄͂̐͗͐͐͠ȑ̎ͤ͑ͯ͏̡͓̺̜͎ĝ̹̠̜̘̟̠̿̔͢͞͠rͪͥ ̴̵͈͇̭̺͔̱͋̏͛̆̎̍̕ơ̢͔̰̼̲̬͙̊͌̈̒̿͊̓̚uͩ̐ͤ͑҉͎̼̤̜n̈̾̈͂҉͔̯ ̯̜̣͚͕d̝̗̮̗̏͜ ̿̊̇ͪ͐̾ͫ҉̝͔̪̦̝̻f͙̳͔ͨͩ͟͠o̝̦̮̖̱̘̽ͣ͛̏̋ͭ̍̋͘͢r͚̓̇̒̃ͨͣͪ͢͠ ̺͖̗͖̠ ͂͒ͣ̌ͫ̏҉̦̳͚e͕͓̭͔͎ͧͬͬ͋͗͌̋͊͜v̨͎̰̗̟͔̱̓ͭ̌ͫ̈́̑ͬ̓ĕ̀̉ͮ͋͗̀ͩ ̶̡̝̞̜̮̤͉̕n̛̥̰͖͓̯̫͖̑̿͌̆̊̍̇͠ ͑ͪͫͥ̈̄̚͏̙̱̭L̵̬ͫͨ̅́a̝̱͔̼̥͙̼͋̉͞ͅͅt̶̗̫̥̲̟͔̙̬ͤ̈ͦͨ̈́̐͡iͤ ͎̗̙̝͕ͪͦͧͫ̎̐̈̚͜ọ̶̶͎ͮ̽͛̔͆͑s̗̻̖͆ͨͮͨ͒̌́͜ ̴̔̇̇ͦ̔́͂̿͏͉̬̲̬̹t͕͇̻̤̝͒̽͗̀̀͋͆͑̀͡͠o̪̥͎̱̹̺͍̾̓̅̀͡ ̦̰̥̘̃̓̈k͔̳͙͚̣̺̱̖̮̾͆ͣ̐ň͈̹̮͈͋̉ͭ̽ͫ̉ò̷̡͚͔̰̥̈́̓ͦ͢ͅw̌ͧ͞ ̧̹̲͓̙̱̞̱̳̼ ̶̦͎͇̜̰̱͕̗̿̑͐͘͟t͍̭̪̪͉̅͊̑̏h̵̳̖̄͐͟͜i̴̪̗͖͈̪̜̔ͯ͛̏͠͞sͧ̈ͤ ̴̭̗̻͓̱̟̋͆̓ͥ̾͞ ̖̬̫͚̟̃̎͌͛̋̀i̒̏͆ͥ͛̍̽̅͒͏̤̣͖̦͖̮͢ͅs͑̈̇͒͜͝҉̖̗͈ ͚̻̰̹̐͆͂̑ͪ͘ḧ̺̫̗̰̬̏ͤ̋͡͞ͅe̶̯͗̃ͤͬͩ̀̚͠r̬̗̞̫̠̞̝͋͒̐͟ë̖̇ ͎̠͓̲.̣͓̩̯̣̺̻̞ͣ͜͜ ̳͐̈͆̍̌ͭ̽͑́̀̚͞A̸̸͍͔͔̜̞̥͔͗͋̽ͥͤn̶̩̪ͦ̅ͬ͆ͭ͋̽̈́̅d̋͌ͮ̎̎ͪ̌̚ ͇̻̲̤͠ ̴͎ͧ̅́͢e͈̖͚̳̪̪̊̆͐̓͞v̰͚̝̺ͯ̒͊͟͢e͇̖̺͙̗͙͇̟ͧ̊̎́ņ͕̳̉̃̈́̒̏ ͈ ̶̲͖̮ͬͪ̒͂̈́͢i̘̻͈̥͕̬ͬͪ͘f̠̖̻̖̟ͨ́ͮ͒͐ͫ͗̉́͠ ̡̲̫̲̝̗ͬ̃ͫ̍̈̂͊í̷̸͙̺̳̤̺͈ṯ̲̙̠̪̼̰͕ͧ̄ ̴̺͍̬͎̟͕̟̲̾ͣͧ̒ͮ͊͂̂́ẘ̷̬͇̣̱̞̳̤͊̂ę̢̮̝̟͚̆̽̃̈́ͮͭͮͤ̚r͐̇ͤ ̶̵̙̞̦͍̖ͮ̌ͣ̌ė̵͎̝̱͓̟̖͔̓̅͋ͤͥͦ́̚̚ ̃ͦ̀̋̍ͦ҉̡̻̙̺̱̯ṱ̙͙̻̮̦̓͘o̩̮͐̂ͧ̆̅̒͌̀͡͝ ̸͈̠̼̘̱̭̿͊ͭͪͦ̂ͪͫt̤̦͍̱͉͇͑͘̕u̺̱̼̳̠͍̗ͯ̉͛̚̕r̷̪͙͇̩͉͈ͬ̈́͛̐ ̣ṋ̶̰̗̥̳̾̆̕ ̷̤̱̯̣͍̟͇̝̀ͥ͟į̫̫̝̗͋̿͆̉ͤ͊ṋ̛͍̤̥̠̺̪͇ͯ̈́v̯̭̻̹͇̭͆̅́͗̾̂̕ ̼̞̝i̢̼̦̞ͯ̓̀͝ͅs̶̖͂̿́ï̵̟̻̓ͯͩ́͢b̸̗͎̓̌ͤ̂̑͑ͤ̎l̶͑̿̍ͭ̋ͮ͠ ͏͙̻̻͓̖e̢͉̗̣̗̫̍ ̹̼̫̦̖̻͖ͦͯ̿ͫ͛̊ͥ͌͠ǎ͓̘͉̲̤n̉ͯ̇ͧ̓͏̻̲̗̗͙͖͜͟ͅd̫̺͕͑ͨ̇̀̅͜ͅ ̣̹ ̲̤̞̩̞̓̂̊̈ͥͣ͢f̨̙̓ͮ̌̆̈͟o͍̳̝̲̦̖̍͗̃̃ͯ̋̒̑͘͜l̡͕ͣͧͮ̍̏ͥ͊̾͠ ͎͚͉̥̭͉̩l͑͛̆̐͐͋͋͋͘͏̫̣̯̞̻̻̰o̸̤̺̘͆ͮ̈̍w̷̢͓̬̺͍͍̻ͦͣ̈ ͍̗̥̮͎̠̞͊̄̐̉̂̑ͮͧ͢o̘͍̥ͨ͢͞ñ͉͖̄̋̓ͤ̏̎e̹ͯ͜ ̼̦̻̓͟ͅo̵̙͕̟͙̦̺̜̘ͩ̄̍f̴̝̭͔̬̞̞̠̌ͨ̓ͤ͂͐̑̓́̕ ̢͓̹̥̓͆̈̽͌ṷ̴̫̩̓̍̀s͆ͧ̑̐͂̃̿̍͋͏͖̞̯̜̻̻͙̠͘ ̝̬͙̯̗̦̬͊ͬ͜h̞̘͈ͫ̉̿͝e̶͓̪͚̙̫̋̓̾̈̾͢ȑ̴̙̽͂̎ͪe̡ͤ̃͒͏͔,̄ͦ̚ ͯͮ̉́̚͞҉͚̪̭͉̞͚̳ ̢͖͎̝̜̹̪͔̭̰͋̈́ͧ̎͆̐ͬͤ́͜t̓̆͏̢̮̹̙͙͍̺͈̬͞h̢̛̖̻͍͈͉͍̓ͅe̴ͣ̏͠ ̟̺͓ ̸̴̻͓̞͎̩̞̏̐̌͝t̢̛̠̣͙̼̖̮̬͌͋̅̆h̜͖ͤ͒̔ͯë̺̩̜̇ͥ̀͒ͤŗ̖̻͊́͘ ͚̳̞̫̖m̸̯̗̣̮̂̍ͦa̵̮̟̪̪̾̀l̠̟̮̾ͭ͒̀̕ ̶̨͚̘͎͕̇c̺̱̭̣̎̂̄͑̈̀̓͋͝a̳͔̒͂̿̎͞m͔̙ͥͫ̿̎̍̊̈̑e͐̐̒͐̈̓҉̬̬ ̱̲̰̙rͮ̀҉̳͔͚͕̙͎̻͜ͅa̸̳̟̝͓͚̗͈͗͆ͅ ̰̼̞̓̚͟w͔͉̟͉̼ͪ̔ͧ̎ͭͮ̀͢͟ͅͅo̲̍͗͋ͧ͐u̻͐ͨͥ͐͌͑̾ͤ͊͝l̂ͦ͌̐ͫ̃͜ ̺̼͉͔̕d̮̭̼̖̯͔͕̺̾ͭ̇ͤ́ ̴̗̫̬͍͎̲̲̻̔̂ͨͣ̕͠p̺͕̥̤̝̝̗̌̈͒̽̐̀͘ͅi̝̳ͮͤ̓̉ͤc̫̦͂ͭ̓ͤ̕k̏͑ ̝͇͙̯̰̥̗͔͎̀ͧͬ̒̀̀͡ ̠̦͉̯̜̗͛͒ͫͥͦ͋ͮ͝į̟̭̳̳̣̥̜̭̇̊͋ͩͬͥ́t̶͕̻̭͕͉͉̏͒̎̇̆ͨ͘ ̨̞͕̖͇͈̮̗̱̥̓̓ͧ̋̓ͯ̍͌͟u̱̼̼̺̫̓̔̄͌͡ͅṗ͓͕̍ͧ̋̉ͩ̈́͘ ̬̭̭̂͐̇̐͌̀̚͞b̮͚̜̯̅̈́ͬ͐͌͂ͥ͊́ę̴̮͔̯͕̂̊ͧ͆ͅf̡͑̍͌̈́͑̿̆͏̣͇o ͒̌ͫ͐҉͓̫̟͇̦̝̠͠r͇͚̳͙̬͍̈́̿͟e̡͖̣̲̲̮̟ͨ̃̀͊̎ ̧̹̘̹̳͈̈͊ị͔ͭͪ̉͒̋̎̈ͧt͓͈ͭ̆̄͆͌̒ͩ̕ ̜̘̝̭͙̓̓͠d̀̓ͫ̊̄ͩͮ̆͏͍̦e̛̙̫͐̿̋͛ͩ͛͡s̴͕̩̪̫̞̳̻ͦ̅̌̈͛̏ċ͑ͮ ̐̀̄͏҉̺̯͝ȩ͙̙̬̗̰̞͙̞̦ͭ̉̐̓͒ͫ̋ͣn͎̯̭͇̻̜̍ͯ͂́d̻͍ͦ̃̃ͦ̄̓̋̾͡ s̛̞̪͓̲̻͆͌̓̾̑̃.̡̹͖͐͋ͪ.̮̥̼̲͛̌̾̅ͭ̏̄́ͅ.̛̞͎͍̠͙̅̔̂ͤͯ͒̓͛̓ ̞̬̖”




“S̶͈̫̱̟̳̜̖̤͎̋̅̈́̉͗̂͠ō̴̮̥̹̞̜̪ͭ ̝̽̈́ͣ̕͟͡ͅw̢͖̳̹̙̼̦̝͈ͪ̅ͅh͖̫͔̹̩͊͌ͤ͒̕ý̷̖̬̰̎̿ ̫̫̳͙̉̽̇̽d̤͚̏̓ͬͮ͌͛i̷̟̟̲̟̝̺͂ͯ̕d̴̻̤̞̳̟̳̻̱ͫ͆̌ͩ̏͟ ̼͉͉̰͔͌͢ẁ̛̫͖̞̦̙̜̟̳ͭͫ́̅ͨ̓ͥͩ́e̩̥̲͈͊ͩ̎͟͠ ̮͇͓͈̗̈̂͋ͤ̓ͫͣ͌͝͞ͅh͔̤̥͉̺͆͘å͉͓̭̳̦̲̗͖ͦ̄̀ͅv̢͓̝̜͂ͯ̾̈ͧ͝ͅ ̪͙̟̦ͅe̯̋̿̀̅̃̍̕ͅ ̟̩̐ͩ̀S̢͖̼͙̫̗̫ͯ̎͗͌̐̒͐̂ͮ͜ṭ̼̪̹̪̙̖̝̂̋ͥͫͨ͟e̢̅͋ͮ̑ͯͣ̆̋́̚ ̺̥̦̣̘̜ṽ̷̬̘͓̌́̎͗̏͜e͎̪̙̍͗̊͒̕͟n̦̭̏̂̊ ̵͙͓̩͈̣̫͓̒ͤͯ̒ͯŞ̳̾̐̆ͥͮͮͩ͗͠͞t͆̉͊̌ͯ͏̺̘̗͚͈ͅo̩̟̮͈͍̱͖ͪͤn ̡͕͔̘̠̓̌̂̏e͔̩̗̼̩̘̾̓̍ͯ͛̔́ͅ ̟͈͉̗̗̈́ͥͨͭͤͯͭ̇̚ą̘ͤ̂̎͊̅ͦ͂̎ŝ̨̱̰̻̤̤͓̿ͨͤ̚͢ͅk̈́̌ͪͯ͐ͤ̉̄̅ ̢̞͉̫̱͍͓͍̦i̪͈̅͋͒̅ñ̛͕͙͚̜͓̼̬̯̗͛g̸̨̘̰̪̞̰ͤ̍ͤ̐͆́ ̙̣͉͔̩ͥ̍̋̄̂̚a̸̴̢̭̬͙͗̓̄͑ͫb̧̺̥͉̑̎́ô̴̜̞̹̂̿ͤͪͩ̅̚͘u̓ͪ͛ͭ ̇̆͏͕̜͎̦̝̦͈͇͟t̴͖̲̘̱̔͂̋͘ ̧͈͍̼̺̤͚̥̤̒̊͝tͣ͛ͮͯͤ͋ͩ҉̙̙̩̀͢h̓ͮ͒̌̓̂ͦͬ͏̛̱̳̼͍ͅi̟̜ͥ͂ͦ͟s ̨ͥ̆̽̈́͋͏̨͔̱͕̖̞ n̡͕͔̘̠̓̌̂̏o̩̟̮͈͍̱͖ͪͤẁ̛̫͖̞̦̙̜̟̳ͭͫ́̅ͨ̓ͥͩ́?̵͈͐͋ͦ̽ͯ͢͡ ̙̯̝̞͎͕͓”




“B͉̬̞̩͂̎̌e̲͇̲̣͔͕͛ͬ̃̅̓̽ͣc͒̐̅ͯ̚͟a̠͆̅̉́ͨ̎͑͠u̥̝͖̼̖̻̾ŝ ̫̗̗̞̱̉̓ḛ̘̦̝͉̌ͫ̓ ̽ͮẗ̩́͐ͩ̒ͭ̉͘h̐̐̃͠i͕͚̬̻̩͒s͎ ̨̭͈ͬ̍̈͛̍̍̿i̴̖̰̜͔̺͕ͦ̂s͚̥͇̣̗̣̎ͮ̀ ̡̹̝ͧͫa̶̰̰̣̔ ̨͍͕͉̺̾̊̑͂̀̑̍ȑ̢̳̤̋ͬeͨs̼̤͇͍ͬͣ͞e͍̝̞̱̻ͦâ̪̥͚̞̿̿̉ȑ̌̔̌ ҉͓͉̦̱c͓̘̲̯̪̫̦̊̅͐͠h̠̖̮̻̒̿̒ͨͭ ̳͎̲̽ͪf̴̲̹͈̗̠̦̋̉̈̍a͕̲ͯ̽̂̒c̘̃ͮ̾ī̊̃̒͢l̦̜̹̝̺͍i̵̹̘̠̓̎́ ̱̱t͉̟͖̩͖̥̦̅͋͛̓y̨̫̘̻̯̟͒͑͊͌̄͌,̯̫̖̖̃ ͉͍͕͍̳͎̅̂̈́̋̚a̸͔͇̩̺͔͔͇̿ͪ̒͑ͯn̢̺͕͖̱̺̻̈͆ḍ̻̯̙͓̣͈ ̥̘͐͠ḫ͙̀̈e̵ͩ̋͐̌̒ ̔͏̩̮̞͔̭̟̤b͙̟͚̝̺͔͌ͭ͡r̗̬͍̱̾͘o̩̲̳̠̟̐̊ͣū̦͚͕̱̹̪͓͊͊ͩ͂g̸ ̭̥̼̟̼h̦͚̭ͩ̀t̳͍̭̀̈ͤ̽ ͓̭̥̹͗a̢̹̩̹̘̍͌͂͆̎̂ ̷s̮͙͂u̓͒͒̂̐͂b͉͈ͣ͌͒̚j͉ͪe͓̞̙͍͉ͨ͊͂ͭc̯̱̬̗͕̦͙t͇̒̄̍̂̓͑ͦ͟ ̜̙̼̹ͅ ͙̥͇̗̭ͣ̒ͫ̊ͩf̬̫̭͖͓̟̗o͔̖͔͊̏̔̀̍̒̈̕r̨͉͚̝ ͔̦̬̥ͩu̜ͨ̐̌s̭͎͖̉̄͗ͮͪ͋ ͍̦͂̋̍͆͂t͔̦͍̙̲̩̓͒͗̉̒́̚o̖̜̠̬̣͔̟̔̒̔ ̜̰̼̟̎̓͑̿͛͜r̰̺̰̰͙̄ͩͣ͐e̙̙̬͍̼̗͌̀s̢͉̻̤̬̫͕̈e͖̩̿̔ͥä̠́̋ͮ͑ r͖̎͂̓́c͚̪ḩ͓͖.̬̋̒̌ͣ ̙̫ͦ͊ͧ͢Ţ͖͉͖͇̯͔͆ͫ́̍̄̚h͑ͮ́e͖͛ͪ͋̎̔ͬ ͇͢p̠̰͎̫̜͉͆͌ͬ̀̔͋́r̗̘̱̪̱͛̽̿ͥͭ͐̾o̴̪̎̒bͫͬ̓̄̄ͪ͏̤͍̲l̂͌̽̀ ͋͏̤ȅ̸͎͆̓̚m͈͉͚̪̥̬̬̂̽̊ͧ̍̊ ̳͇̮͚͂ͬ̒͆ͨỉ̫͐͆̿s̳̺̘̘̊ ̜̮̼̒ͩ̊̆̈́̋t̼̱̺͍ͨ̆͂̾h̳̩̻͎a̼̎ͨ̊ͥͭͥ̚͟ṭ̶ͫͫ ͖̗̜̜͙͎ͅh͍̰͕̖̺̍̒e̤̐̕ ̸̻͖͗̓̏̃ͩ͊t̘̺̫̯̤̤͂̚ͅh̟̙̦̥́̅̎̔̇̽in̪̗̔k̃̾͛̊͛҉̝̜ș̵̯͎̐ ̱͖ ̮͒ͧͫ͐ͦ̇i̴̳̣̳̭̬ͬt̸͈͎̫̰̗͈̗͗ ̯͙̱̺͕̰̟͗͐͂̏̆͊͡is̳ͮ̅͐̏ͩ͌ ͍̝̪͔̈͐͟a̛̓͌́̽̾ ̘̝̰̫͉͖̤͞P̠̣͇̖͈̯ͤͨͫ͊͠o̵̩̪͚̲̲̺͆̆̓ͮ̔k̮̫͕͊̔̇͗ͩ͌é̗̃̒̃͒ ̥͓̝͇m̷̬͎̗̞͈͚ͮȍ͇͇͗ͤ̋͆͝n̼̬͓̩̤ͥͥͭ̅ͧ͋̿͠,̱ͧ͊͗͛̊ͧ͑͘ ̣̠͚ ̲̣̭̋̿̑͊ả͙͈̯̪̟̟͂ͤͪ̅ṇ̛̟̥̪ͫ͆ͧͭd̜̟̦ͯ̅ͮ ̡͉̪̻̥ͣw͋͋̒o͎̫͙̤̟̻͑͋̄ͧ̏̉u̮̜̓͘lͥ̓ͮͩd̤̠̺̥̾̀̆́n̡͐̄̌̌̉̾ ͓͓͓̬̭ͅͅ'̣̣͛ͮͨ̈ͧ̔̀t̮͎ ͍̻͈̰͈͚̉̋ͭͯl̢̫̱̗̮̰eͩ̊̎̌ͪ͛̎t̵̻̙̰͚ ͉̳̮͉̜̊͋ͮ͐̈͐͋͡u̵͚̙͋̐̎̚s̎ ̱͇̺̣̼͍̩̀ͦ͋͝d͖ͬ͐͟o̥̭̯̰͉̙̙ w̻̏ͦ̊ͩh͇̫̉a͕̼͚̦̎̉́͛̚t͕̺̩̦͓͘ ̘̹̣ͫ͊̊̏̃͋̍w͉̯͜e̱͘ ͖͙̱̤ͩ͆ͦͯ̓̌h̤̪͐͡a̴̞̼̩͈̳ͭ̈́ͦ̀̓̇̈v͉̠͚̞̮̅̽ͬͭ̎̂̓e̘̤ͪ ̪̮͇̫ ̲͈͕͖̻͈̿t̹ọ̺̲͉̲̲͒̽ͭ̌̕ ̷̝͓̺̱̪̟͉̂̆͂ͭ̄d̶͎o̬̬̗̍̃ͦͩ̉ ͇̰͙̻̙̼̅̀ͬ̚t͍̞͌̾̒ỏ̻͕̝̖͉ͣ͛͘ ̦̖f̠̏͂̚i̼̖̗͍̣̟̳͒ͥ̍͋̃̋ͧ͠g̚u̳̬̩͙̯̲͖ͦ̓͋r̿͊ͥ̎̃͛͏ě̹͐̚͢ ̲̱̘̜ ̼̹́ͯ̌ͬ̚ơͥ̎̅u͋̕t͂ͭͭ̆́͒͏̻̱̖ ̗̟ͭ̅ͦͬw͇̙̮͈̅̓̆͆h̬̮̃͒ͯ̚â̶̠̟̎̇ͤ̃t̶̐̒̈́ͬ͒ͥ ͖ͨ̄̆̅̆͠ṱ̛̜̘̻̥̟ͩ̔ͥh̃̏̊̈́̾̈́̂͟į͎̼̘̘͇s̪͉͆̓ͧ̂ ̞͋̊ͤţ̰͕̗̰̳̑̽ͨ̉̀ͅh͎̦͘ị̒͌̌̈́ͫ͢ṅ̫̫̞̞̩ͅg̥̗͈̝͠ ̠͓͖ͫ̂̃͢ị̺̬̲̤̰ͣ͒ͅș̦̹͙͈̠̋̆͐̐̚.̢͓͇̥͕̜̫̗̈́̿̂ ͇͛ͭ̇̓̿ͅÁs̲͔̞͙̠̪̿ ̭ͨ̀ͤ̈́́ͩf̛a͊̀ͨͫ͗ͥ͗r̛̦ ̨̱̜͙̂a͖̘̳̥s̳̦̝̍ͯ̐̉͋̈́͊ ̄̓͗̌͘ę̰͕̹̙̹̙ͨͤ͋͌̑̇ͅṿ̮͡ȩ͇̘̺̥͍̮ȓ̀̈́͏y̺͎ͬ͛͗̂̅͜oͦ͑͒ ̴̮͖̗͙͍ͯ͂ͪn͟e̤ ̲̳̤͔̌͂̄͛̄̇̑͡o̼̰͔̥̖̅͑ṳ͔̭͍͉͐̃ͩ͑͑̈́̚t̸̯̲̟̫̦̿̋̑̉ͩ̚s̈́͛̓ ̼̲͕̟̼͙̼ͦ̆͟í͇̥̗̦͖̃̏͊͜d̰̃ͬ̊͑̅̊͟é͙͉͕̬̹͉̜ͫ ̥̏o̒̅ͫ̈f̙̺̽ ̙̞̹̌̍̒ṯ̲̋h̼͔̦̱̤̼ḭ̙͍ͩ̈͛́s̟̞̹̯͚̓ͦ͞ͅ ̴ͩr͎̥̟oͭ̈́ͯͤͮͣ҉̲̣̖͔̖̱ͅo̴͔̦ͥ́ͧ̃mͫͩ̒̈͂ͤ ̨̩͓̝͔̪͖̓̊ͪ̉̽ȋ̖̂̿̇̈́͑̊s̩ͮͧ ̛͇͈͋̄a̖͖͙̳w̨a͍̤̮ͥ̈͌͒r̥̼̤͚͖̮̎ͣͤͫͤͪe̽̾̔ͩ͊̏͏͕͔̰̬,̓̽̽͢ ̘ ̴̠̠͖̣͙̋ͥt̗͇͂ͯ̑h̵͈̥͍̮̩͗̋ͮͪ͊e̯͎͕̮͌ ̩͍̺̟̱͎ͭ͠s̯̠͇̊͆̇̇̀ͅp̒҉e̵͉ͧ̈́̌ͦͫ͒c͞ìm̫ͫͯ͠ẻ͉n̸̑ͪ ̲̞ ̴͎̦͕̫̂̆͗̿͂͋i̛̺̼̝̻͉̺̇̃s͏͓̫̘̦̬̟̘ ̨̞̪̲̒ͤͨ̈̔͑͌i̛͔̯̣͇̳͗ͨͬn͈̬̑̍͌ͧͬ̏ͅ ̨̞̪͎͕U̘̾̃n͚̼̻ơ̤̞̙̭̻͇̭͊ṿ͔̝͖̇͒a̟̰͍̯͈,̱̩ͪ̓͑̐ͣ̊̕ ̼̬͇̱̥̉ͤͨ̔̑a̰ͫ̓ͤ͋̑nͦ̑́̎ͭ͟d̛͇̘̥̺͕̺̓͗̐ ̞̲̭̌ͧb̶̟̼̯̫͈ͫ̂̓yͩͦͪ͌ͫ̐̑̀ ̶̰̹͕͓̌̎͂ͅt̟ͣͬ̀h̾ͮ̓ͪe͕̫͍͉̭͎͒ͅ ͚̹̠͎̮̯̋ͣ͑̋̓̊͐͜t̡͎͖͍̮̰̩̲i̪̗̹ͅm̧̫͋e͕̠̣ͪ̓ ̛̲ͮ͐̑̽̽̚p̫̈e̲̻̼̫̾ͬ͛ͫͪ̊͡o̸̩ͩ͊̉̂ṗ̹̗̣͈͔̦̆ͅlͭ͒ͦ̏eͬ̃ͤ̋ ̙̩͙̓̽͡ ͔̳̀r͎̳̩ͧ̊͞e͖̺̻̙̙͇̝͐̊á̴̲̮̈́́̑̊ḻ͕̼̥̫͐i̬ͬ̈́̐̽ͨ̋̑zͦ̊̇͌ ̽ẽ̖͉ͬ ͈͓̪̮̣̫̆͂ͭ̃ͅi̢̞͕̯̣̽̏̑̊ť̙̲̦͈̺́̍͗̊̐ ͚͉̭̑͗̉͐̿ͪ̚i̔̏͋͞s͙n͔̹̰̺ͣͫͨ͑̃ͦ́'̭̰̗͚t̙͇ͥͣ̈́,̶̲͋̋̓͆͋̈̒ ͙͍͓͙̣͇ ̮̰̣̼̝͓̥ͣ͒͋ẃ̾̏̚ͅě̢̻͕̹ͩ͌̽ ͚̖̲̖̙̤̾ͧ̈ͣ̊͆̚ͅw̺͔̯̘̬͑ͬi͕̓͋ͭ̉̏ͯͮl̪ͪ̓̍̑ͧ̆͋l̤̝͗́͊͋ͯͮ̑ ̱ ̧͔͓̥̲̹̼̓ͧ̈̆ͦ̏ͅk̞̯̻̰̈́n̳̯̻̖̖̠ͩͤ̏o͍̖̤̕w̤̪̬͙̺͟ ̬̘̤͓̼̓͆w̷̩̑̈́h͕̺͉͆̎͢a͓̜̺͚̫ͤ̏̎̈́ͨͤ͐͝ͅt͉̮̩̖̬̯ ̰̭̰̙͐t̟̗͕̋̑h̬̣̞̻͖̹̋̾ͣͭ̄́ͮi̼̦̯͈͚̒͢ͅs̬̞̩̥ͦ͆̏ ̅ͯ͆̿ͪ͌҉̣͖͕͓̹i̫̩̲͐̏̽̒̏͌s̞͍͕̝̗̤̈ͧ̊̅͌ͧ͘,̲̜̭̫͔̓͗̃͒ ̭͈ ̔̇̒͛ͩ͞a̴̻̗̣͆͐͐̚̚n̨̮̘d̛͚̮̟̿͛̐̈́ ̤̜̮̘̞̺̺ͣ̄̄b͙ͬ͝ě̀ͅ ̧ͧͤ͗͗a͔̮̖ͣ̿̌̃̓̔b̗̰͍̰̯̿ḷ̸̹͖̮̐e͓͔͎̙̠ͧͣͦͦͣͪ̐ ̩ͥ̆͜t̳̭̭̍̍͋͗͐̈ö͈̗̜͖̣́̄̚͞ ̝͛ͯ͊͊̇ͅbͅl̰̊͐͟a͔̟ͦͧͪ̎̍̽m͚̱̥̮͂ͯͬͬ̏ͤ͋e̟ͣ ̼̠̼̗̽̈́̓̐ͥ͋̕i̬͚̪ͬt̴́̀̈́ͫͮ̐̚ͅ ͚̌ͨ̊̌͒a̫ͨͬ̇͂̽ṡ͙͉ͣ̔̌̈̅̉͟ ̰̙̙͍̖a̘̟̞͔̜̙̭̒͢ ͔c̩̲̗͔̋͂͂̀̚l̖̬̦̣e͎̟͉̗͖̝͐̈́̒ͅr͍̱̩̊̑͐i̤̫̙̥͍͚ͨcͫͦ̽̊ͮ̿̈ ̵̠a̔̃ͦͩ͏̺͇͉͍ḽ̝ͩ͌͗͆͐͂ ͚̟͇ͧe̤̼̍͗̀̚r̹͍͔̺̤͆ͮ̔̕ͅr̷̿ͧ̏ö̞̩͎̮̙̗́̽̌̑͛̾̋r̊ͤ̽̋̇̈́̚͞ ̮̟̲̤̱̪.͖̰̘̯̖̤͗́.̛͕̽̍ͧ͆ͭ̚.ͤ̈̾̒ͦ̚”


The humans start to calm down, before the sense of deadly curiosity begins to emanate further.


“D̶̷̻̩͔͉̫̎ͥo̴͎̬̲̬ͪͭ̉̓̄̀u̷͚̳̣̺̘̘̇̔ͪ̄ͥb̶͍͚̣̞̳ͤ̉̑ͪ̉͝ͅ ͙ĺͪ̿͏̞̖̗̻̬̼̰͟ͅe̤͊́̋ͫ̔͡ ̽̔ͮ͌̀̈͏̴̗̙͟ţ͕̻̤͈͍͕ͥͧ̆̍̔͋̃ͅh̪̮̗̆́ͩ̇ͩ̓ȩ̫͂̽ͧ̌͗͋́̌̚̕ ̖̠̙̦̮̫ ͙͙̘̥̲͉͔́ͯ̏ͧ͊̏̈v̐̔҉̢̥̟͕̣͞ȯ͑ͯ҉̬̱̼̗̜̭̪̹͈́l̶̨̹͕ͧ̈̏͞t͆ ̋̑̀͏̡̼̹̖̦a͈̩̻̠̯̻̳̅̾͘g͈̳̗͔̟̠ͥ̌̆͐ͪ͢e̮͖̲̲͉̤͖͉͚͛͌̂̕,ͤ̈́ ̓̒̓͏̵̮̦́ ͔̬̫͔̟̤͙̓ͫͧ̅ͧ͛͜a̢̙̰̞̲̣̙̞̠ͮ̈́̍ͯ̎ͫͭ͠ń̢̯̞̞͇͔ͦ̄̓͘ͅd ͇̟̋͞ ̺̝̮͍̖͙̰ͤͪą̭̰̟̺̤̓̿ͨ̈́ͦ̇͘d̨͕͔͓̟͈̱͖̻͒͆͒͋̔͂̅̚d̋́ͭ̓ͮ͊̀͞ ̨͕̟̝̖̹ ̨̝̜̰̮͍̫̤̤̜ͨ͗ͧ͒̓ͣ̇͘a̢̎ͤ͒ͦ́͂̚҉̷͖͎̘̯̜̞̘ṇ̫̝͇̜̏ͭ̕̕oͤͣ̂ ͣ̕҉͚̘̮t̷̬͉͖̹͊͋ͦ͛̽̇̊̂ͪ͡h̺͈̋ͪ́͢͡e̢͍̭̣͔̞͓͈ͫͯͪ̆̌̈̿̕rͦ̓ ͔͉̰̺͚̝̬̻ͤͬ̓͗͐͒ ̴̴̣͉̜̲̺̬̼͕̠ͧ̃ͫ͘f̴̧̘̠͔͂́ḯ̴̧̛̦̘̻̭̭̈̑͑ͪͪ̏ͬf̶̛̯͚͆ͥ̋̾͢ t̥͉̪̜͔̯͔̂́y̶̸͍̫ͧ̆͒͋͗ͮ͊́ ̨̬̗̠͙̌͗p͉̤͉̖͇̣̽ͨ͝ė̜̰̖̬ͭ͊̏͠r̷͇̫̭͈̩̪̳͎̦ͪ͗̋̈́ͩ͡cͦͦͮ̿ͧ ̪̟̦͎̰̩̓̽ͪͥe͔̞̹̣̝͈͈͙̎̒ͫͦ̌͜n̥͕̼͕̏́̕t̻͍̥̟́ͮ̇ͣ̽̐͜͜ ̨̼̳͖̘̻ͤͭ̔ͤ̋̈́ͮc̸̣̪̼͉ͦͨ̑̃͋̌̑̃͘u͈̯ͦ̈́r͖͙̆͗͜͠r͕̋ͦ̅͗͂̉̀͢ e̘̪͖͓̤̳ͨ̉̕͝n̛̬̓͘͡t̟̳̺͕ͧ̌̿̈́ͤ͟.̨̩͈̰̜̙͉̦ͦ͌ͮͣ̓̚͜”


Latios could only watch, as Charlotte’s aura was polluted by pain and fear. Whilst Dylan had considered having Latios attempt to read her thoughts whilst she dreamt, to better understand what she saw, he decided against it. It may wake her up, and startle her to know something was listening in, and whilst it was for her benefit, this was the sort of thing he’d rather have her permission before doing.

Whilst Latios couldn’t see Charlotte directly, his empathetic sense was able to go through thinner surfaces, such as the window and the blind behind it of Charlotte’s room. Really, this was only to make sure Charlotte was having a nightmare. There was little point staying up late to see if there was a Pokemon nearby causing this nightmare, if they didn’t know for sure she was having one.

Dylan had told Latios the truth about why he had borrowed him from Jon, and whilst Latios wasn’t a fan of keeping Jon in the dark, he agreed to help Dylan for Charlotte’s sake, on the expectation that once Dylan had done his investigation, he would tell Jon the truth.

Dylan sat in his room, telepathically talking to Latios. It was 1am, and next door, he could hear Chris swearing at Justin for holding on to a Blue Shell, for the sole purpose of using it when Chris was about to cross the finish line in first place. Not to steal the win for himself, but deprive Chris of it.

”Is this what you are listening to every night?” Latios asked, hearing the noise from the next room through the telepathic link.

“Nearly,” Dylan replied. ”Don’t tell Jon though. It’s good leverage for when I need something from one of them…”

“Eight in this one,” Latios said as he passed another room, counting the amount of auras he could detect. Dylan sat in his cabin with his laptop open and the database of the students attending. Whilst that room only had six trainers, he knew two of the trainers had a Pikachu and Eevee respectively, and wouldn’t be surprised if they let their Pokemon sleep in their bed with them. And according to Latios, all of the auras seemed to be those of people and Pokemon sleeping.

Whilst Dylan doubted this was the case, and really didn’t want it to be either, if there was a Pokemon causing nightmares nearby it had to be in one of the cabins, as Latios had already scoured the grounds and found nothing.

”What will you do if we find nothing here?” Latios asked, as he passed another room. ”Six in this one.”

”That adds up,” Dylan replied with his thoughts. ”And if we find nothing here, tomorrow afternoon, you and I will do some tests on the island, and expand our search tomorrow night…”

”Four in this one,” Latios said. ”What sort of tests?”

”Adds up,” Dylan replied. ”As for the tests, I want to see what sort of range you can focus in on connecting with me at, and sharing your sight. I figure being a Legendary Pokemon, not many can match your ability in that, so we would have a rough idea of what sort of radius something could be affecting Charlotte from. Then tomorrow night, we do the same thing but expand our search…”

”Five in here,” Latios said about the next room. ”And if we find nothing there?”

“Adds up,” Dylan said about the room before answering the question. ”In that case, I don’t know. You’d be able to tell if something upset Charlotte to the point of it doing this to her when she sleeps. It just doesn’t seem likely…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Abbee awoke the next day, and wasn’t surprised to see Charlotte was already gone, being hit with a pang of sympathy. Whilst Charlotte wasn’t the sort to trouble Abbee with her problems, Abbee knew enough to see how much the nightmares were affecting her, and if she was already gone, chances are she awoke at some point during the night and couldn’t get back to sleep.

As she went to the cupboard that contained her wardrobe, she grimaced. Once every few months, her and her dad would go shopping to replace any clothes she had outgrown or worn out. However, in the year since her father had passed away, replacing clothes had been something Abbee tended to put off, replacing very little of her older clothing in that time. Additionally, she had grown nearly an inch taller since then, and had been starting to realize just how much of the clothes she had brought with her were due for replacement.

It was 7:50am, with breakfast due to start in ten minutes, so she quickly grabbed something she knew still fit her well, and made her way to the dining hall. It didn’t take long before she found Charlotte, Chris and Justin sitting at a table. Charlotte seemed exhausted, as Chris and Justin were debating which version of Rainbow Road was the best.

“Morning,” Abbee said, as she sat at the empty seat next to Chris and opposite Charlotte, carrying a bowl of cereal. Charlotte nodded in acknowledgement whilst Chris and Justin continued their debate.

“You free this afternoon?” Abbee asked Charlotte. “I’m thinking of heading into town to get some new clothes, and we still gotta go in pairs.”

“Sorry…” Charlotte replied, before yawning. “I’m rostered on to help out with this afternoon’s seminar.”

“Of course,” Abbee said. “Sorry, I forgot you were on this week. I guess that means Dylan is also busy…”

Hearing Dylan’s name was enough to pull Chris’ attention from the debate he was having with Justin.

“Not anymore. He blackmailed me into swapping shifts with him for some reason,” Chris said irritably. “I had to cancel my plans for this afternoon…”

“We can just do it tonight instead…” Justin said, slightly consoling Chris.

“Wait, what dirt did Dylan have on you to be able to blackmail you into taking his shift?” Charlotte asked. “And what plans?”

“Mario Kart…” Justin said, before yawning. “He’s addicted, and I share a room with him. If he has to keep me up all night with it, I might as well enjoy myself…”

“And as for the dirt, that’s a great idea…” Chris retorted sarcastically. “I tell the two of you, and you now have blackmail material to use against me. No thank-you…”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, as Abbee looked towards Justin.

“So in that case, you’re free?” Abbee asked Justin.

“I suppose…”

“Well would you mind coming along so that I can go?” Abbee asked. “I’ll buy you an ice-cream?”

Justin was quietly mulling it over, before Chris interjected.

“Goddamn dude, she is asking you to tag along, not go on a fancy date or something…”

“Your tact never ceases to astound me…” Charlotte said sarcastically, before yawning again. “I’m too tired for this s**t…”

Chris laughed, as Abbee looked at Justin.

“You’d really be doing me a favour…” Abbee said. “I am not sure when I will have a spare moment to go again for a few weeks if I can’t go today, and I really need to replace some of my clothes…”

“Sure, as long as you don’t mind the company,” Justin said, as Abbee looked around.

“So where is Dylan?”

“Not sure,” Charlotte asked. “His car is gone, so I presume somewhere in town…”

As the group finished their breakfast, Chris was the first to leave, still sour that Dylan had blackmailed him, with Charlotte not far behind him. Abbee stood to take her plate to the dishwashing pile, addressing Justin before she spoke.

“So meet at the gates at about noon?”

“Sure, but what about lunch?” Justin asked.

“We’ll get something in town,” Abbee began, before looking around to make sure she wasn’t being overheard, and leaning in. “The cooks here are great, really. But when you’re cooking for forty people day in day out, you find yourself getting a little repetitive. It’d be nice to get something different.”

“Understandable,” Justin replied, slightly nervous. As much as he did believe Abbee had moved past the incident last summer, he could count the amount of one-on-one conversations he’d had with her since on one hand. Let alone an afternoon spent with her. He foresaw a lot of awkward silences, knowing that he was more there so Abbee could go into town without breaking the rules.

“Thanks again, really,” Abbee said. “I’m sure we’ll have a great time.”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

”What about now?”

Dylan could hear Latios’ voice in his head, but it sounded very distant. Near inaudible.

“I can hear you, just…” Dylan thought back, concentrating hard.

“Now?”

The pair were on the Mossdeep Island beach, Dylan at one point, and Latios out of sight, both in terms of distance, but also invisible, far away.

”Still can hear you,” Dylan replied. ”Try another fifty meters.”

The pair had been at the beach for the last two hours, coming up with a method of testing, before implementing it. Dylan measured out fifty meters, roughly speaking, showing Latios the distance. Latios would attempt to lock on to Dylan’s mind, before moving fifty meters away, and trying again. Whilst Latios seemed to have no issue at all increasing distance, the last few attempts have been quieter and quieter.

And now, silence…

There was a few more seconds of silence, before Dylan felt a splitting pain in his head.

”Dylan!” Latios was shouting telepathically. ”Can you hear me?!”

“My deaf grandmother is buried in Mossdeep Cemetery, and she can hear you…”

“Sorry…” Latios replied. ”But I think I found my limit.”

Whilst Dylan had been keeping track of how many times Latios moved fifty meters, he was aware it wasn’t an exact science, especially since Latios was guessing the distances. To confirm, Latios used his sight sharing, which was like a laggy video, to show Dylan where he was. When Dylan had a rough idea how far down the beach Latios was, he opened the maps app on his phone to calculate the distance between them.

There was a boom in the distance, and less than ten seconds later, Latios was in front of Dylan.

“Goddamn…” Dylan muttered as he calculated the distance, impressed both at Latios’ range telepathically, and how fast Latios travelled that distance. “I’m not sure why Jon doesn’t have you take him to visit Johto…”

“It’s too risky…” Latios explained.

“Us humans can’t withstand those high speeds?” Dylan asked.

“I originally thought that, but no,” Latios replied. ”When I didn’t understand Jon explained it to me, that it isn’t the speed that would kill him, but the change in it. I could gradually reach top speed, and Jon would not be harmed. Except I am travelling over a kilometer a second, and whilst I can stop myself within two or three seconds, even if I were to keep Jon on my back, the sheer force would kill him instantly. I’d need to take nearly ten seconds to slow down for him to not pass out. So if a plane or a large Pokemon were to cross paths with me, it’d be a disaster…”

“Right…” Dylan replied, having never considered it. He always knew Latios was quick, and presumed Jon would make the most of that sort of high speed flight. “So Jon has never flown at full speed with you?”

“Once. He called in a favour with Steven to find a section of sky in the ocean south of Southern Island that had no flights scheduled to fly through it. I took about a minute to reach full speed, and flew at it, using my telekinesis to keep him secured to my back, for about thirty seconds, and then another minute to slow down. We travelled about a hundred kilometers by Jon’s guess…”

“Goddamn…” Dylan replied, even more impressed.

“Just don’t tell Alyssa. This was before he met her, and if she made him sell his motorbike because it was too dangerous, she would not like hearing this…”

“Wait, Jon had a motorbike?” Dylan asked.

Latios nodded, before gesturing to Dylan’s phone.

“So how far away is my range with telepathy?”

“A little shy of two kilometres.” Dylan explained, still impressed.

“That is only trying to communicate with someone I know well. I couldn’t communicate with one of the new students if I couldn’t see them. And my emotion-sense is a hundred meters at best…”

“No, that is fine,” Dylan replied. “Brilliant really. Because if two kilometers is your limit, unless whatever could be causing these nightmares is a more powerful psychic than you, it should be within two kilometers of the Eon Academy. If we can’t find anything within the two kilometers, it either means the nightmares aren’t being caused by a normal Pokemon, or if they are, they are by a Psychic Type even more powerful than you, which on this Island, is unlikely…”

”So back to the Academy?”

“We’ll have a quick drive around the city to see if there are any Pokemon within your broad telepathic range triggering any warning bells,” Dylan replied. “But then tonight, we will have a stake out. Confirm Charlotte is having a nightmare, and see if there are any Pokemon that could be doing it, active within that two kilometer range.”

”I’m two meters tall…” Latios began. ”I don’t think I will fit in your car…”

“Not comfortably…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****
Abbee and Justin sat opposite each other at a cafe in Mossdeep City. The silence was overbearing, and whilst Justin normally wouldn’t mind using his phone, seeing as Abbee was only a friend, and maybe a meme on his newsfeed could actually trigger a conversation, Justin still felt a little sensitive about the topic of phones, and didn’t want to risk opening that can of worms.

Justin looked up, and saw Abbee looking out to the street, having finished her lunch, looking at the different people walking past. She noticed him looking, and flashed him a grin, causing Justin to go slightly red, not used to this sort of attention from her.

“I still can’t believe you helped discover a new Legendary Pokemon. Let alone capture it…” Abbee said, trying to break the awkward silence. “I’m kinda glad we haven’t had a rematch yet, because I don’t think I could beat it again…”

“You never know…” Justin replied. “I won’t fall for the same trick again, but I know you’re not the sort of person to try and use the same gimmick twice in a row.”

Abbee laughed at Justin’s observation.

“You give me too much credit,” Abbee explained. “Chris gave me the idea of using Victini’s status moves, and Victini was the one who thought to hide that Future Sight attack. If not for them, you would have probably thrashed me.”

“We’ll never know…” Justin said lightly, not wanting to labour the debate if Abbee was convinced he was a better battler.

“So have you heard much from Candice recently?”

The question shocked Justin slightly, however he retained his composure, not wanting to look like a hypocrite with what he had said about Candice on the beach weeks earlier. He still stood by what he said. Who gives a s**t if he is interested in her? He wasn’t going to be secretive about it and deny everything.

“Yeah, she got in touch the other night, and we video-chatted. Mostly small-talk since Chris is my room-mate and either couldn’t or wouldn’t take a hint to play his switch somewhere else…” Justin answered. “But she is visiting Mossdeep next week, and staying in the lodge we were in last year.”

“How was Jon when you asked if she could stay?”

“I tried telling him she was a friend from my trip and could be a good guest tutor, but he saw right through me,” Justin sighed. “He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he had a hunch what was up, which made him saying nothing even worse. He just gave me this stupid grin. Maybe Steven said something...”

Abbee laughed at what she imagined that conversation being like.

“So why now?”

“She had to make sure she wouldn’t have any challengers showing up at Snowpoint and her be in another region. She’s the seventh gym leader in the sequence, so waited until there was nobody still active in the Gym Challenge that had the fifth or six badges,” Justin explained. “She has been keeping an eye on the standings since the start of summer, and only just found the break where she can leave Snowpoint for a little while.”

The pair paid for their meal before leaving the cafe. Abbee had already visited a couple of shops, finding some new clothes to replace the old ones, and whilst she had asked Justin if there were any stores he wanted to visit, he had been pretty content browsing the men’s sections at the stores she had visited at that point. He had mentioned to her wanting to get some new clothes, however wasn’t in as dire need as Abbee was.

“So how is it being Chris’ roommate?” Abbee asked. “I’m betting he snores a lot…”

“He talks in his sleep, but he doesn’t snore…” Justin answered. “That is assuming we get to sleep, because Dylan is next door and his snoring could be mistaken for a Wailord’s mating call…”

Abbee laughed, remembering last year when Dylan’s snoring kept her awake, being in the room next to hers, and realized Justin would have been in the same position, being in the room on the other side of Dylan. She had forgotten about Dylan’s snoring since last summer. Even when Dylan spent a few days at her house over New Year’s Eve, she didn’t hear anything, as, much to her embarrassment, Tyler had made a point of making sure Dylan was in a room at the other end of the house. Not that they had any intention of being in each other's room, however she did wish that Tyler was less obvious that that concerned him…

“During the first few weeks last year, I was convinced he snored as loudly as he did to make up for the fact he never spoke,” Abbee joked. “Now he talks a bit more but it sounds like the snoring hasn’t changed…”

“Most of the time I am asleep before him anyway, but if I wake up for anything, I can’t get back to sleep,” Justin replied. “So I don’t feel too bad when Chris and I keep him awake when we end up playing Mario Kart or something…”

Abbee led the way into the next store on the main street. It didn’t take her long to browse through the women’s section and realize there was very little she wanted to buy, however noticed Justin browsing through some of the button down shirts on a rack.

“So what’re you gonna wear when Candice is here?”

“Clothes…” Justin replied, somewhat bluntly. “I haven’t really thought about it. Just figured I’d wear what I normally wear? It’s not a big deal…”

“Maybe,” Abbee said before nodding towards the board shorts and black singlet he was wearing. “But I’m sure it’d score you some points if the first time she sees you in six months, it looks like you’re making an effort to impress her.”

“Or, I show up looking like I was dressed by my mother for picture day, and she just sees me as a kid…” Justin retorted. “We spent nearly a week hiking, unable to bathe without risking frostbite. This is a massive upgrade…”

Abbee laughed at Justin’s reasoning, understanding somewhat, though still disagreeing.

“That is a very fair call. Look, I don’t know Candice personally, but she doesn’t strike me as the sort to take an interest in you if she sees you as a kid. I’m willing to bet that she already sees you as an equal, especially given what you guys accomplished over Christmas, and I doubt her seeing you try to dress a bit nicer than usual when you do finally see her again, is going to change that,” Abbee explained. “I’m not your mother, but I reckon I could find some decent stuff in the sale section that can be put to good use.”

Justin sighed. He was planning on picking up some clothing whilst he was in town. The only reason he had argued Abbee’s point until now was because he was nervous enough as it was without accounting for what he was going to be wearing.

“Fine,” Justin said, feigning exasperation. “Impress me.”

With a grin, Abbee began looking through the sale section, hoping to find a few days worth of outfits there. She got Justin’s approval on colours, before passing him different garments. By the time she was done, and gotten his approval on the items she picked out, he had three pairs of canvas shorts, two new tees and three button-down shirts, all of them half price or less. As Justin tried a few of the outfits on, Abbee eventually found a sundress that she liked, deciding to add that to her purchases for the day.

“I’ve outdone myself…” Abbee said as they walked out of the store, gesturing towards the full bag of folded clothes that Justin carried. “If she isn’t impressed by this, she isn’t the one…”

Justin chuckled at Abbee’s commentary, before nodding towards her bag.

“What did you end up getting?”

Abbee grinned, pulling the dress out to show Justin.

“It’s… nice…” Justin said, now knowing the first thing about dresses, and doing a terrible job of hiding it. “Though I don’t think this is supposed to be here…”

Abbee looked at where he was pointing, and noticed the beige security tag. She sighed as she saw it, and realized what it meant.

“Lucky you saw it now and not when I tried to wear it,” Abbee remarked, as she turned back to the store. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I’m happy to come with you?”

“I’ll just be waiting in line,” Abbee replied. “See if you can find an ice-cream shop nearby. I owe you one for helping me out today…”

Justin nodded, pulling out his phone and opening Google. He quickly found an ice-cream shop within walking distance and was reading through reviews when he was pulled from his thoughts by someone’s loud voice further down main street.

Closing his phone, Justin wandered towards the commotion, and started to piece together what was being said.

“I’m not paying for this meal!”

The person yelling was a man who looked to be about Jon’s age, standing in the outdoor seating area of a nearby cafe and the recipient was a waitress, who barely looked any older than Justin himself. She seemed to be trying to stand her ground, however it was obvious that tears were forming in her eyes at the barrage of abuse.

“How stupid are you to think I should pay for a meal that I couldn’t even eat?!” the man continued, as other passers-by slowed their pace to glimpse the altercation they could hear happening.

“Sir, you didn’t request the gluten-free option when I took your order, and as such, we gave you the standard meal-” the waitress tried to explain, before being cut off by the aggressive patron.

“Don’t you f**king dare interrupt me!” the man shouted, his voice growing louder. “And don’t blame me for your mistakes! I ordered the gluten-free option.”

“Sir, I have my notepad here with your order, and my colleague who was pouring drinks for your table was there when you gave it-”

“Are you stupid?!”

Justin gritted his teeth, before walking towards the man, who was continuing his rant, as the waitress broke down in tears. He didn’t even know what he was going to do about this. Only knowing he wouldn’t do the things that Chris probably would resort to…

“Hey!” Justin called out, getting the man’s attention, and causing him to turn around to face Justin. The waitress took a step back, wiping her eyes in the moment of reprieve. “Relax, she’s just doing her job.”

The man’s eyes narrowed as his attention focused on Justin, looking down on him like a Gyarados looking at the next Pokemon to be its punching bag.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” the man asked, not yelling like he was before, but still plenty loud enough. “Mind your own business, and f**k off!”

Every part of Justin wanted to curl up into a ball, or run away. But he remembered what he had talked to Candice about during the summer. Wanting to help people, and not just fight off a**holes until they run and hide.

“Look, I get you’re upset, but that doesn’t make it okay to treat somebody like this for just doing their job,” Justin began. “How would you feel if somebody treated your daughter like this? Or your wife?”

The man didn’t respond, instead, shoving Justin, knocking him back a couple of steps.

“I won’t say it again. Mind your own business, and f**k off!”

“Justin!” Justin heard Abbee call out from behind him.

Justin shook off the instinct to antagonize the man, or threaten him like Chris would, wanting to defuse the situation. Taking a breath he stood forward, forcing himself to make eye-contact with the man.

“I’m just trying to help someone out here. There’s no need to be so aggressive. If we can all just calm down, and be civil, and I’m sure you can come to some sort of-”

Justin wasn’t able to finish the sentence, before feeling the man’s fist smash into his face, and his nose break. Tears filled his eyes before he even knew what was going on, leaving him partially blinded, as he dropped the bag he was carrying, its contents spilling onto the ground. The man shoved him, and not expecting it, and unable to see in that moment, Justin tripped backwards, falling to the ground.

“A**hole! Leave him alone!” Abbee shouted, as Justin heard footsteps moving quickly towards him.

Justin grimaced at the pain from his arm rubbing against his broken nose when he attempted to clear the tears from his eyes, before standing. He raised his hands, partially to protect his face, knowing this man was beyond reasoning, and the best he could do was keep his attention, and not get beaten in the time it takes for someone to call the police.

The man rushed at Justin, punching him in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him and leaving Justin curled over. He heard the man grunt, and saw him shoved to the ground in his peripheral vision. Looking up, Justin saw Dylan standing over him, back turned and facing the man who was scrambling back to his feet.

“You want to do this?!” the man yelled, rolling up his sleeves.

“Nobody does but you, you stupid p***k!” Dylan shouted back, matching the man’s volume, and shoving him again. “A teenager was trying to reason with you, but you were so bent on stroking that rage-boner of yours's that you assaulted him!”

Justin had only ever seen Dylan like this once, and that was after Abbee’s dad had passed away. He was thankful for Dylan’s size and not being on the receiving end of this.

“Just pay for your meal, and leave,” Dylan said, quieter but firm. The man spat at Dylan’s feet, before turning to leave. However as he did, there was a shimmer of light in his path, where Latios quickly materialized, looking down on the man, before letting out a draconic roar, harsh and out of character for the mostly gentle Legendary Pokemon.

“Are you threatening me?” the man asked, facing Dylan.

“So what if I am?” Dylan retorted, refusing to back down. “You verbally abused a waitress, and assaulted a minor. You’re the a**hole no matter which way you put it…”

He sneered, before pulling a bank-note out of his pocket and throwing it at the waitress, before walking off, Latios moving aside to let the man pass.

“I’m going to sue your a**!” he shouted back.

“Good luck with that!” Dylan called back, rolling his eyes at the man who had finally left. Abbee helped Justin to his feet, as the waitress approached the trio, thanking Justin and Dylan for intervening, and apologizing to Justin for his injuries.

The three teenagers and Latios were invited inside the cafe by the owner, where Justin was given an ice-pack and some tissues for his bleeding and broken nose, whilst they waited for the police to arrive. Whilst technically, they had done nothing wrong, with Dylan shoving the man clearly defensive and not intending any real harm, and Latios’ intimidation being completely of his own accord, they figured it wouldn’t be a good look if they left before the police had the opportunity to speak to them. Justin was already worried about Jon’s reaction to him coming back to the Eon Academy with a broken nose, and the potential influence it could have over the younger campers. Having the police show up at the Academy because they left in a rush would look even worse. And it’s not like they can remain hidden. As far as everyone was aware, there wasn’t another Latios in Hoenn…

The police who arrived later to get statements on the ordeal seemed ambivalent towards Justin and Dylan. They commended Justin for intervening, but also recommended he try to avoid that, citing his broken nose as proof. As for Dylan, they weren’t too thrilled at how antagonistic he was towards an already volatile and violent person, but impressed Dylan managed to scare him off.

As the group drove, Justin and Abbee in the back seat, as Latios was still, unbeknownst to the other passengers, trying to detect a psychic presence more prominent than himself, Justin tried to break the silence.

“So why do you have Latios, and why is he squashed into the front seat?” Justin asked, gesturing to the Eon Pokemon, one wing pointing out the window to the sky, and the other behind Dylan’s head.

“I asked Jon if I could borrow him for the weekend to help me out with something…” Dylan explained, as he took a turn that would take them to the hospital.

“Help you out with what?” Abbee asked, now curious, especially since she was cramped with Latios’ seat being all the way back in order for him to fit in Dylan’s car.

Dylan was silent for a moment, before finally speaking up.

“Between us, I lied to Jon to get him to lend me Latios, but I will tell him the truth tomorrow,” Dylan answered. “I wanted to make sure that Charlotte’s nightmares weren’t caused by a Pokemon…”

Abbee’s eyebrows raised hearing this as Dylan continued.

“I found her sitting outside at like 2am the other night, after my neighbours woke me up,” Dylan explained, as Justin remained silent. “She was telling me about the nightmares, and how suddenly they started, and how consistent they were. It almost seems like something is causing them…”

“So why keep it a secret from Jon that you’re looking into it?” Abbee asked. “Especially if you’re borrowing his favorite Pokemon?”

Latios cried out happily being referred to as Jon’s favorite, as Dylan thought over what Abbee had asked.

“I don’t even really know…” Dylan sighed. “I guess he has enough on his plate as it is, and I figured if I were honest, Jon would deal with it himself. My theory is really just a theory, and I don’t want to waste his time by inadvertently getting him chasing this down, if I am just gonna be wrong about it.”

“Does Charlotte know about this?” Justin asked. “You looking into it?”

“Not at this point, and I think she’d flip if she knew,” Dylan explained. “I don’t know her well, but she strikes me as the sort who would prefer to suffer in silence than let someone else be put out trying to help her…”

“To a degree, yeah…” Abbee agreed. “So what’s your theory?”

“Pokemon can use Nightmare on sleeping Pokemon, however there are only rumors of Pokemon being able to use it on humans. Most of the time when it does occur it is an isolated incident. Some sort of mutation,” Dylan explained. “If something external is causing these nightmares it is most likely a Pokemon. Last night Latios could tell she was having a nightmare, however he detected no Pokemon on the property that seemed to be using Nightmare on Charlotte, based on what he could see of their emotions. But the only people awake were myself and my neighbors…”

Justin grimaced again hearing this, making note to not indulge Chris and his desire to stay up late too often, since they weren’t as subtle as they originally thought.

“So today we tested Latios’ telepathic range. I figure there probably isn’t a Pokemon on the island with more powerful Psychic abilities than Latios. Latios’ range is between eighteen-hundred and two-thousand meters, depending on interference, so if a Pokemon is doing this to Charlotte, it has to be within a two kilometer radius of the Academy, unless it is more powerful than he is…” Dylan continued. “Since we had time, we planned on spending the afternoon driving around the island to see if Latios could sense a psychic stronger than himself. Hence why he is in the passenger seat. I wasn’t expecting to find you getting beaten by some a**hole outside a cafe…”

“I wasn’t expecting to have my face punched in when we left this morning…” Justin muttered, looking out the window.

“I’ve answered your questions, so I have a few of my own…” Dylan commented, continuing to look straight ahead. “Why did you intervene? Why not just call the cops and let them handle it?”

As Justin thought over the question, he couldn’t help but notice that Dylan didn’t seem critical or judgemental in the way he asked it. More just curious.

“I guess for a similar reason to why you didn’t tell Jon the truth about borrowing Latios. Really, I wanted to be able to do it myself. I want to be able to help people, and actually do something worthwhile. Sure, I could call the cops, but that won’t always be an option. Meanwhile, if I could get this guy to calm down, and deal with it without the situation getting violent, then maybe we’d all be better off for it…”

“And how did that work out for you?” Dylan retorted.

Justin chuckled to himself.

“If you didn’t intervene, I probably would have been worse off, and had to fight back myself,” Justin said. “And I am not even sure I could, short of sending out a Pokemon, but that’s a one way trip to getting them taken away…”

As Justin said this, Abbee’s expression turned to one of slight worry.

“You don’t think because Latios got involved, you or Jon will be in trouble?” Abbee asked.

“I’d say the chances are astronomical. He had been out of his Pokeball for hours at that point, and the current standard of Pokeballs keep track of when a Pokemon is let out and called back. So it’s not like I let him out to fight this dude. Security cameras nearby, as well as Latios being telepathic and able to communicate can confirm Latios acted of his own volition,” Dylan replied. “At worst, if it did get escalated, Latios could be required to undergo a psych evaluation to make sure he isn’t dangerous, which he would pass quite easily, Jon would be given a warning about lending a Legendary Pokemon, and I’d be given a warning about the example I set for Pokemon under my care. If I had sent out Latios and demanded he attack, then we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

“Besides, Jon would board up the Academy, and let them lay siege before he let anyone take Latios away…” Justin added.

“Anyway, just remember, a lot of people are reasonable and can talk things out, but a lot can’t, and things get dangerous. If you want to help in a situation like that, for everyone’s sake, make sure you know what sort of person you are dealing with…”

The next hour was spent at the hospital, waiting for Justin to be seen by a doctor, who told him to come back in a few days when the swelling around his nose had gone down, so it could be relocated back into place. After that, Dylan drove the group back to the Eon Academy.

They were all back earlier than expected, and the property was near empty, with everyone else in the stadium for Jon’s lecture. The car slowed to a stop in the driveway out the front of Jon and Alyssa’s cottage, as Dylan turned off the engine before addressing Justin and Abbee.

“Do me a favour, and forget what I told you about why I had Latios. Just pretend you don’t know,” Dylan said. “I will tell Jon the truth tomorrow, when I have a better idea of what’s going on…”

“I won’t say anything,” Justin replied. “Jon’s probably going to be too preoccupied with what happened to me to think about it anyway.”

“Thanks for stepping in,” Abbee added. “I wasn’t sure what to do before you showed up. You too Latios...”

Latios cried out happily, before Dylan called him back to his Pokeball.

“Not a problem. I’m just glad, relatively speaking, you two are alright,” Dylan replied. “Make sure you see Jon about what happened, before he hears the other students gossiping about it.”

Justin and Abbee made their way towards the lodges in relative silence. When the lodge was getting close, Abbee spoke.

“Sorry for dragging you out today…” Abbee said quietly. “I know it wasn’t how you wanted to spend your day off, and you ended up getting your nose broken by some a**hole…”

Justin halted to a stop hearing this, and looked over at Abbee, who was looking pretty downcast.

“Hey, don’t apologize. I had a good day, even with what happened,” Justin replied. “And hey, now I have some decent outfits to compensate for the smashed in face when Candice visits next week…”

Abbee cringed a little hearing that, but couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment.

“Truth is, that was bound to happen eventually…” Justin continued. “I want to help people. I don’t want to be that guy who stands by and waits for someone else to step in when someone is in trouble, but the thing that’s been weighing on me was whether I actually had the nerve to do that. I needed to prove it to myself that I could, which is why I did it.”

“Still, if I had have not pestered you to come out, you’d have stayed here, and not wound up in an emergency room.”

“But then I go into town with Chris, and something similar happens, and instead of now, it is then,” Justin replied. “Could you imagine if Chris were there today? He seems to thrive on altercations. Last time we were in a situation like this, he broke a dude’s nose with a Pokeball. We would still be in the police station if he were with me today...”

“He is a bit on the punch first, ask questions later end of the spectrum, but I think more so, he wouldn’t take a friend being hurt lying down. He’s a bit out there, but definitely good value as a friend,” Abbee said. “So are you. Even if it went south, I know a lot of people, that waitress especially, are glad you stepped in.”

“Even if I am the idiot who kept taking your phone, and…”

Justin’s words trailed off, as he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. He just sighed, half wishing he kept his mouth shut. Abbee looked at him, surprise across her face.

“You’re still beating yourself up over that?”

Justin kept silent, before continuing to walk towards the lodge.

“Justin!” Abbee called out as he walked away. When he didn’t respond she walked quickly towards him and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Justin!”

Justin sighed, as he stopped, and turned to face Abbee.

“I found the phone thing frustrating at first, and when I missed out on speaking to Dad that last time, and found out about him through the news, I was heartbroken. More than ever…” Abbee said. “But by the time summer was over, I had forgiven you. And when we all arrived day one, and were on the beach that night, it was obvious how much you’d grown up. You screwed up, but nearly everyone did at some point. Chris almost got himself and Jon killed, and Charlotte hurt her own Pokemon trying to be better than the rest of us. Hell, I did something stupid and put a massive awkward wedge between Dylan and myself…”

“So…” Justin said quietly. “What do I do then?”

“Accept that it happened, and that it’s in the past, and move on,” Abbee replied. “You only know as much about other people as they are willing to let you know, which means we always see the worst of ourselves more than everyone else. Everyone else has just as much s**t they have done that they wish they hadn’t. You aren’t a worse person than anyone else for being willing to look past your own mistakes.”

Justin remained silent, not quite believing this himself.

“Look, I owe you an ice-cream, not a lecture, so I won’t say anything more,” Abbee said, before turning towards the girl’s lodge. “But I’m asking you a favour as a friend, that you forget about this. Let yourself be happy…”

“Thanks again for coming out with me today!” Abbee called out as she turned the next corner. Justin felt his phone buzz, pulling it from his pocket to find a message from a number he didn’t have saved.

“Hey Justin, this is Sophie. I’m the waitress that you helped out today. The police gave me your number so that I could get in touch.

I just wanted to say thank you for stepping in today. It couldn’t have been easy, and it is terrible that he assaulted you the way he did.

Truth is, I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, and he was being unreasonable. But when someone is screaming at you, and nobody is stopping them, deep down, you start to think ‘maybe I did do something wrong’. ‘Maybe I’m the bad guy here’. ‘Maybe I deserve this’...

Thank you for stepping in and proving that little voice wrong. For your troubles, your next meal is on us. Please feel free to come any time.

Thanks again, and I hope your nose heals quickly, and that guy gets what he deserves.
Sophie.”

Justin couldn’t help but smile at the text. His nose may have stung like hell, but it was worth it.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“What the f**k happened to your face?!” Chris said loudly, before Jon shot him a warning glare.

The lecture had just finished, and most of the students had gone, however a few still lingered. Jon, Chris and Charlotte had remained in the stadium to tidy up when Justin arrived to tell Jon what had happened. Having quietened Chris down, he turned to actually see what he was talking about.

“S**t…” Jon said in disbelief, looking at Justin’s broken nose. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Justin replied. “Figured I can’t hide this, and probably don’t want you hearing whatever rumours start about it first.”

“So what happened?” Charlotte asked, as she walked forward to get a closer look.

“Some guy in a cafe ordered the wrong thing, and started abusing the waitress there when he couldn’t eat it…” Justin explained. “He was screaming in her face, and nobody was doing anything…”

“Did you hit him?” Chris asked, remembering their arrest the year before.

“No. I tried reasoning with him, and getting him to calm down,” Justin replied. “Worked a treat, seeing as he broke my nose, and would have beaten me senseless if Dylan hadn’t shown up…”

“Good thing he did then,” Jon replied with a sigh. “How did he go handling it?”

“I don’t know how, but he got the guy to pay for his meal and leave. Stood his ground and called the guy out for being an a**hole…”

“And he hit you instead?” Chris asked in shock.

“Dylan isn’t exactly small…” Charlotte answered. “Dude’s obviously a coward, not minding hitting a teenager but running with his tail between his legs when an adult that’s bigger than him gets involved.”

“Pretty much…” Justin muttered, cringing as a wave of pain from his nose hit him.

Noticing this, Jon handed the pair of garbage bags he had filled to Chris and Charlotte.

“You two mind taking these to the bin out front?”

Charlotte nodded, passing a bag to Chris, before the pair left, leaving Jon and Justin alone in the empty stadium.

“I know, it was stupid of me to intervene. I should have just called the police…” Justin said as Jon shook his head.

“As much as it might not feel like it now, you did the right thing,” Jon replied, before opening the cooler against the wall of the stadium, and tossing Justin a bottle of cold water. “Any idiot can call the police to do the right thing for them. Sometimes, only they can deal with a situation. But sometimes the police aren’t going to be able to come and deal with something and you need to be willing to step up and act on your own.”

Jon watched as Justin took the bottle of chilled water, and instead of opening and drinking it, held it softly against the bridge of his nose. He winced slightly for a second as it made contact, however before too long the cold began to provide some relief.

“And sometimes, you wind up with the s**t kicked out of you. Sometimes worse…” Jon continued. “But truth is, you did a lot of good today. You said nobody was willing to do something to help this waitress?”

“Yeah…”

“Well they all saw a teenager willing to step in, to do what’s right and help someone else out,” Jon said. “And I’m willing to bet that a lot of adults who were there will be feeling pretty guilty because they let a teenager get hurt trying to do something on his own that they were all too gutless to do. If even one of them realizes that it’s wrong to turn the blind eye to someone in need, and actually grows from this, then you’ve done reasonably more good than you realize…”

“Still, if Dylan hadn’t shown up, it would have been for nothing…” Justin replied. “I tried dealing with it peacefully, and got hit. Then Dylan showed up, got aggressive with him and he finally left. It almost seems the opposite of how it should be…”

“What did Dylan say about that?”

“He said a lot of people can’t be reasoned with, and it can get dangerous. For my sake, I need to know what sort of person I am dealing with…”

Jon grinned hearing that. Having had Dylan as a foster-son of sorts for the last year, he had come to see a lot of Dylan that he could only really see through passive observation, given Dylan’s quieter tendencies. This mindfulness amidst a chaotic situation, and ability to judge and act were both something Jon had noticed grow in Dylan, especially when compared to his first battle at the Eon Academy, where his nerves skewed his decision making. Jon was pulled from his thoughts when Justin spoke.

“Could you teach me?”

Jon looked at Justin in slight disbelief.

“Teach you what exactly?”

“How to deal with situations like that…” Justin answered. “I saw how you dealt with Dylan’s stepdad showing up here last year. How you tried reasoning with him, and when push came to shove, got aggressive. Teach me where to draw the line, and how to respond to things like that? I mean, the League approached you to be an operative for them?”

“They did, and that situation with Dylan’s stepdad may have worked out for the best, but I have a list of screw-ups longer than my arm,” Jon explained. “The guy who leaked the evidence about the Diamond Ladies, was one I got into a fight with the night before, because I though Alyssa was at risk, and he was getting in the way of having her protected. When Lance offered him a position on the next operation where he wouldn’t have to deal with me, he leaked the files. Then Lance had some guys attack the Academy last summer, and I am certain it was because of how antagonistic I was towards him back on the S.S. Wishmaker. I was stressed and had a lot of weight on my shoulders at that point, but I handled myself poorly, and it had consequences.”

Justin thought over what Jon had said. He had mentioned befriending the Diamond Ladies after they came clean and started trying to make amends, and whilst Jon hadn’t talked about it specifically, Justin figured it probably hit somewhat hard to find out they died the way they did. And now, it seemed like a real possibility to Justin that Jon blamed himself for their secret getting out the way it did.

“I get that you’re not perfect. Just a guy with his head screwed on straight enough to have a decent idea on how to handle stuff like this,” Justin said. “So think of it this way. I want to become a cop when I can, but still have a couple of years before I can do that. And I’m sure when I go through training, I will learn the right way to handle this stuff. But until then, I don’t want to be helpless when something like this happens. I don’t want to get my head kicked in until Dylan shows up.”

“I won’t go out looking for fights, or anything,” Justin added. “I just want to be able to do more than be a punching bag for someone else to actually help out…”

Jon thought over what Justin said.

“Even if I say no, you’re still going to do something if you wind up in this position again, aren’t you?”

“I’d be pretty disappointed with myself if I stood by and waited for someone else to step in…”

Jon chuckled at Justin’s resolve.

“Fine. Tuesday mornings at 6:30am, meet me here,” Jon explained. “I’m far from an expert, but will try and teach you how to defend yourself, how to predict how someone will act, and when reasoning is not possible. Enough for you to actually try and do something without ending up with a broken nose every time…”

Justin nodded, before thanking Jon and turning to leave.

“Justin,” Jon called out. “One more thing…”

“Yeah?”

“If Candice asks about what happened to your face, don’t try and bulls**t her. She will see right through it…” Jon explained. “Just tell her the truth. She’ll respect you more for it.”

Justin sighed, not sure what would be more embarrassing. Jon giving girl-advice, or Jon remaining knowingly silent…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was 1am when Dylan found himself sitting in his bedroom again, listening to Justin and Chris continuing their trend of staying awake far too late playing Mario Kart. The hour before had been spent with Chris wanting Justin to tell him what he knew about the guy who broke his nose so they could ’pay him a little visit’ and Justin trying to convince him to drop it.

Latios had been gone for the last hour, scouring the two kilometer radius around the camp, trying to find some sort of telepathic presence that could be causing Charlotte’s nightmares, however was found nothing, having already done the same scan of the Academy he did the night before.

”I think that’s everywhere…” Latios said to Dylan. “Unless it’s something stronger than I am, but I would have noticed it during the day when we were scouring the island…”

“That’s okay,” Dylan replied with his thoughts. “Come back, quietly…”

The last thing he wanted was Latios to wake half the island up by flying faster than the speed of sound. The locals knew that Jon Drake and his Latios lived on the island, and that the booms that pierced the sky were usually Latios. Which means that if they’re awoken at 1am, they will know exactly where to send their complaints…

A few minutes later, Latios arrived, and Dylan felt a sense of alarm come through the telepathic link he was sharing with the Eon Pokemon.

“What is it?” Dylan asked, as his vision was suddenly replaced by Latios. He felt his stomach drop as he was all of a sudden high above the ground, looking down on the academy. It was the same as the night before, but with one exception. A large presence in the main hall. Large enough that it wasn’t being blocked by the interfering walls, with an unfamiliar aura.

“What is that emotion?” Dylan asked Latios.

“A mixture between sheer gluttony and ravenous hunger…” Latios replied, wondering if this was some form of Dream Eater.

Knowing the buildings had electronic locks, and Latios couldn’t get into the building without putting holes in it, S.S. Wishmaker style, Dylan left his room, with Latios descending to meet him by the main hall. Dylan held a torch in his right hand, punching in the code on the electronic keypad to unlock the door, before readying Metagross’ Pokeball.

“Follow my lead…” Dylan whispered to Latios, before creeping into the building.

As they entered the dining hall, strange noises echoed through the larger room, seeming to originate from the kitchen. Something strong enough to alarm Latios was there, and it was hungry enough to be giving Charlotte nightmares and feeding off of them…

Or so Dylan thought.

As he turned a corner, he pointed his torch at the source of the noise, to find a large tub of ice cream, being held protectively by a wide-eyed, messy-faced Victini…

Dylan groaned at the sight, before turning off his torch, and reaching for the room light, turning it on.

“Can I help you?” said a slightly irritated voice in Dylan’s head.

“You can tell me why you're here at 1am, eating a month’s supply of ice-cream…”

“Because you showed your class that documentary on Pokemon diabetes, and Abbee has put me on a diet…”

As Victini said this, Dylan noticed Latios sniffing around at the fridge.

“This is a school…” Dylan chided. “Jon wouldn’t keep beer in this fridge…”

Dylan felt a sense of disappointment emanate from Latios.

“Though after that scare, I could just about use one…”