//------------------------------//
// I Dream a Dream 
// Story: Pokémon: Equestrian Adventures 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Having finally escaped the confines of the Grand Desert, our heroes now find themselves back in their usual stomping ground of the woods. They had spent the day trekking through the forest, trying to get to the town between the desert and the mountains that housed the city of Cloudsdale. And as the sun grew close to kissing the horizon, they stepped out of the trees, now seeing the entrance of the town.

"We made it! We finally made it!" Twilight cheered, "Oh...thank goodness. I need a shower."

"I need a burger," Spike added while clutching his stomach.

"And we need to get our Pokémon checked out," Doc finished.

"Well, there's one place we can get all that stuff," Flash commented as he pointed at the town, "Come on, let's find the Pokémon Center." The others nodded back, all running down a hill as the sun completely set. And as the night fully set in, the group walked into the town's center, Flash going over and chiming the bell at the front desk, "Hello?"

They waited for almost a full minute before Nurse Redheart walked into the room, letting out a yawn as she saw the group, "Hello. Welcome to the Pokémon-" She stopped to yawn again, "Center. What can I do for you all?"

She then let out a third yawn, the others exchanging glances as Doc asked, "Are you alright?"

"Just tired," Redheart replied, "I haven't been getting much sleep these last few nights."

Hearing this, the group grimaced as Twilight spoke up, "Well uh...we would like a room and to have our Pokémon checked over."

"Of course," Redheart responded as she motioned for a Comfey to get the trays. As her helper Pokémon started to get the equipment, Redheart had them sign in, "Please place your Pokémon in the trays Comfey is getting. You can pick them up in the morning." They all nodded as Comfey floated in, the group putting their Pokeballs in the tray while Springer and Peewee followed the Pokémon into the back room.

After that, they all enjoyed a quick meal before heading upstairs to their room. An hour later, they finished bathing and were ready for bed.

That night...

When Flash opened his eyes, he found he was in a giant black void. "Huh?" He said as he slowly walked into the void, "Hello?" He called out, "Anybody out there?" No answer came from the darkness, making him yell out, "Hello?!"

"RIOLU!"

Flash's heart froze as heard that voice, Springer turning to see the Riolu standing in the darkness. The Pokémon was in pain, a stream of blood going down the Riolu's face.

"Springer!" the trainer screamed as he tried to run after his Pokémon, only to feel his feet suddenly come to a stop. "Huh?!" He glanced down, now seeing his feet sinking into the void. But before he could react, new voices cried out in the darkness. Looking back up, he now saw all six of his Pokémon, all in pain as dark tentacles came out of the void and began to strangle the six. Springer, Skyler, Riptide, Prongs, Viper and Hopper all cried out in pain as they were suffocated.

"NO!" Flash yelled, only for his body to now fall, sinking till only his head and arm were left. "Guys!" All but his face sank down now, tears going down Flash's face as he saw his Pokémon vanish into the darkness.

"NOOOOO!"

And as the darkness consumed him, his eyes went wide as his vision now came to a dark figure appearing before him. All the teen could see was a basic shape, only for a pair of blood red eyes to appear before he was consumed again.





Flash gasped as he sat up, "GYAH!"

"GYAH!" Twilight, Spike and Doc screamed as well, all now sitting up. The group started panting now, Flash now seeing fear on every face.

"Did you guys just have a nightmare?" They all nodded back.

"That's...bizarre." Twilight added as her eyes rapidly blinked.

"No kidding." Flash added as he let out a sigh and falling back on the bed. "Why would we all have a nightmare?"

The next morning...

The four trainers all yawned as they entered the reception area, each having bags under their eyes. After their nightmares, it took hours to get back to sleep...only to have more nightmares followed by waking up and screaming. It was not a good night.

"But why did we all have nightmares?" Flash asked as he rubbed his eyes, "That's what I'd like to know."

"Lots of things can cause mass nightmares," Twilight replied while letting out another yawn, "Medication, eating before sleep and even anxiety."

"Guess we were all a little anxious to get as far away from the Grand Desert as possible," Doc added.

"Yeah!" Spike tried to say as he stumbled back and forth, "I mean, we just had a giant Douburrow try to eat us. I think anyone would be a little anxious after that."

"And we did all have cheeseburgers last night," Twilight continued. "They say cheese gives you nightmares, though there's no real proof of that."

Flash nodded back and yawned again, "The two must have joined together and gave us a bunch of super nightmares. Say, why don't we just take a relaxing day? Maybe that's what we need after all the messes we've had to go through."

"Sounds good to me," Spike replied before pointing at the room they were entering, "But why are they like us?'

They all looked up to see a full room with a bunch of different trainers and their Pokémon scattered around, all with bagged eyes and tired expressions on their face. "That's not good." Flash commented as he walked up to a trainer with her Snom, "Hey there. By any chance, did you have a nightmare last night?"

She nodded back, "Sure did. Third night in a row, and I'm not the only one," she gestured to other the trainers, "We've all been suffering from them every night since we first came here." Flash and his friends tried to go wide-eyed at this, only for the girl to pick up her Snom, "That was the last straw for me. I'm getting out of this crazy cursed town."

The group watched as she left, other trainers following her as they all packed up and left. "Wow," Spike gulped, "Maybe she's right about this town being cursed."

"Don't be silly. There's no such thing as curses." Twilight added while rolling her eyes, "There's probably some explanation for this."

And as she said this, a very sleepy Redheart walked out while pushing a trolley. "Flash Sentry, Twilight Sparkle and Time Turner. Your Pokémon are ready for pickup." They all moved over to see Springer and Peewee both sitting on the trolley, both looking ready to go to sleep at any moment.

"Not you guys too," Flash muttered before picking up all his Pokeballs, wondering if all his Pokémon had suffered from the bad dreams. And as they got their Pokémon, the four trainers headed out to stock up on provisions, only to see everyone on the streets all had the same half-dead expressions they had.

"Okay, now this is serious!" Twilight yelped, "Why is nobody doing anything to figure out what the cause of these nightmares are?!"

Her outcry caught the attention of a shop-keep that was halfheartedly sweeping the store opposite the Center. He looked up at her as he responded, "Actually, we have been trying to figure out the cause. That's why we asked a famous researcher to come and investigate."

"Really?" Twilight gasped as she turned to him, "Who is it?"

"Don't know. Didn't learn anything more then that. I did hear she got in this morning and is meeting the mayor at town hall."

"Does this mean you think the nightmares aren't a natural phenomenon?" Doc asked, the shop-keep just tilting his head at the question.

"I don't know what a fan-om-e-gnome is, but there's no way this is natural. The researcher he called thinks so too, which is why she's here. She thinks a Pokémon's responsible."

"A Pokémon?!"

"Now this I'm interested in," Flash chimed in, "Come on, let's go find this researcher and see if they know which Pokémon's to blame." The others nodded back and after giving thanks to the shop-keep, they ran to the town hall. And when they arrived, they all gasped as a certain person walked out of the building with the mayor, "Professor Luna?!"

"Well, well, didn't expect to be seeing you guys here." She replied with a big grin before turning to the mayor, "Thank you sir. I think I have enough data to confirm my theory."

"No problem. Anything to stop this pandemic." He let out a yawn. "Anyway, I should get back to work."

With that, he walked back inside as Luna turned to them, "If you're here, that must mean you all suffered from the nightmare too?" They nodded back, "I figured as much. But don't worry, I know what's doing this."

"You do?"

"Yes. Its a very powerful Pokémon, one with the power to enter dreams and distort them into nightmares."

"Do you mean something like a Munna?" Twilight asked next, Luna shaking her head.

"Not quite, but you're on the right track. But before that, let me get you some coffee."

One coffee break later...

The group were now at a table as Luna began her explanation, "Now, before I get started, I need you to know that this isn't the only town that's been suffering from this issue. A town several miles away suffered the same problem for a few weeks. In fact, it got so bad that the sleep deprived people and Pokémon eventually broke into an all-out riot. After that, the nightmares just stopped until another town found themselves suffering."

"Is that why you think a Pokémon's involved?" Doc asked, Luna nodding again.

"Mostly. But I've also interviewed some of the worst affected victims and they all mentioned seeing something in their dreams. All they could tell me is that it was a shadowy figure with blood red eyes."

This caused Flash's eyes to go wide as he suddenly stood up, shaking the table and almost knocking everyone's cups over. "That's what I saw!" he gasped, "Last night in my dream, I saw something like that just before I woke up. It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen."

"I see. If that's the case, it confirms my theory even more." Luna sighed as she leaned back, "A Tantabagot is here, infecting everyone's dreams."

"Tantabagot?" Flash sat back down before pulling out his Pokedex and typing in the name, an image appearing on screen showing a goat-shaped Pokémon. Its face was gray but its horns and hooves with pitch black, the horns curving backward into a crescent moon shape. The rest of its body seemed to be covered in a blackish-purple substance that consumed its neck, body and legs with a large flurry-looking tail made of it.

Name: Tantabagot
Category: Nightmare Pokémon
Type: Dark
Info: The evolved form of Lallaby. This Pokémon draws power from fear, and often enters the dreams of humans to cause nightmares. Because of this, it often locks horns with Slumberam.

Everyone got a glimpse of the creature, Spike, Peewee and Springer shivering, "That thing looks scary."

"And it definitely looks the right shape to be what I saw last night," Flash added.

"That's what Lallaby evolves into?" Twilight asked while turning to Luna.

"It's one of the things Lallaby evolve into," Luna took out a Pokeball. "It can also evolve into this."

The ball opened up to reveal something new. This Pokémon was a large ram with thin white fur around its neck and body. It had a brown face and long brown legs with a pair of yellow ram horns on its head with a blue light spiraling from the base to the tip. It had light purple armor with light blue trim around its front and on its head was a purple metal helmet with blue trim and a yellow crystal on its forehead between its eyes. The Pokémon also wore purple metal boots on its legs that went up to just below its knees with blue trim. "Slumberrrrr!" It roared before moving over to Luna, who began scratching it behind the ear.

"Meet Lallaby's true evolved form, Slumberam."

Flash then scanned it with his Pokedex.

Name: Slumberam
Category: Dream Sheep Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Info: The evolved form of Lallaby. They have the ability to enter the dreams of humans and help them overcome doubts or fears that they might manifest. However, being in a full fledged nightmare will weaken it.

"Wow. Your Lallaby evolved?"

Luna nodded back. "Yes. And with her, I'll be able to chase Tantabagot out of your dreams and into the real world."

"So what do you need us to do?" Twilight asked next.

"Simple. Go to sleep." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "I know it sounds strange, but Slumberam will have a hard enough time bringing me into the dream. Bringing the rest of you will make it impossible."

"But could we help you in the dream?" Flash asked, Luna nodding back.

"Possibly. If you can enter a lucid dream state, you may be able to affect the outcome of everything around you. Tantabagot can enter your dreams at will, but it can only gain control because you're not in control. It's your mind and you have control of it if you want. Remember that for tonight."

The others nodded back, all agreeing to help stop this troublesome Pokémon. After that, the rest of the day was spent doing a little shopping and telling Luna about their adventures since the last time she saw them. And as the sun began to set, they all retired to the Pokémon Center.

"Everything's been prepared as you asked," Redheart announced as they walked into an extra room in the center. It was much larger then what they had slept in last night, with four beds and lots of space for all their Pokémon.

"Good," Luna stated as she and Slumberam walked into the center. "Now, please bring out your Pokémon."

They all nodded and threw their Pokeballs into the air, unleashing every Pokémon they had that could dream. Skyler, Riptide, Prongs, Viper, Hopper, Owlicious, Shine and Flitanium appeared before moving around the room. Shine jumped into bed with Twilight while Flash's Pokémon tried to squeeze onto Flash's bed, almost crushing him.

Once comfortable, Luna motioned to her Pokémon, "Alright, now it's time to sleep. Once you're asleep, we'll enter and begin our hunt for Tantabagot."

Doc let out a yawn, "Don't worry. One good thing about not sleeping well last night, it shouldn't be too hard to fall asleep now."

"I don't know," Spike moaned as he laid back, "Knowing you're gonna have a nightmare kinda makes it hard to want to let yourself drift off."

"No problem," Luna covered her eyes and turned to Slumberam. "Use Hypnosis."

"Ram..." Slumberam said as the crystal on its head began to glow. And as the light enveloped the room, everyone except Luna found themselves slowly drifting off to sleep. Within a minute, the room was filled with snores.

"Good," she turned to Slumberam and climbed onto its back, "Now we can begin." She grabbed its horns as the blue line on them started to glow. Slowly, Slumberam's hooves lifted off the ground as they began to float, the horns then unleashing a bunch of energy strings that floated down before latching onto each person's head. And with that, both Luna and Slumberam closed their eyes as they were mentally linked into everyone's dreams.





Doc was in his workshop, tinkering away at something under a sheet.

"Almost done," he cheered, "Finally, after years of tireless work and research, my ultimate invention is almost complete." He pulled the sheet away, revealing a giant robot with a cockpit in the chest. "With this, construction, rescue and law enforcement will be easy as pie."

But as he continued to tinker away, a small purple cloud appeared behind him. It flew around the room before going into a pile of machinery, causing it to shake and catch Doc's attention. "Hmm?" He turned around, only to go wide-eyed as he now saw a giant monster made up of tons of different machines. "Holy Shiinotic! It's every single failed invention, merged into one and wanting revenge!" The machine thrust an arm at him, which had a spinning folk for a hand. "WHOA!" He yelped as he dove to the side, "Aaaaah! What was I thinking giving a spaghetti folk a turbo?!"

The machine roared as it tried to attack again, only for a flash of light to catch their attention. Both turned to see Luna ride Slumberam as it floated through the air. "Extrasensory!"

"RAM!" It roared as it fired a rainbow beam from the gem on its head, knocking the monster off its feet, causing it to break apart.

"You alright?" She asked Doc, the trainer nodding back.

"I am now," he huffed as he then saw a small cloud fly out of the wreckage, "Is that the Tantabagot? It doesn't look anything like what the Pokedex said it looked like."

"That's because this is only a small piece of it," Luna replied, "It's divided itself so it can enter several dreams at once....which might make things a little tricky."

They watched as the cloud began to hop from one pile of junk to the other, creating more scrap monsters. The sight made Doc gulp, "This could go on forever."

"Agreed. I need to destroy that piece of it, but I can't with all these monsters protecting it."

"Leave them to me!" Doc cheered as he jumped up into his robot's cockpit. "Online..." the machine lit up before it stood up, "ATTACK!" The machine ran into the fray, beating one of the monsters with a single punch.

"Nice." Luna added as she pointed at the cloud, she and Slumberam charging at it before one of the scrap monsters hopped in front of them, "Zen Headbutt!" Slumberam's horns glowed blue as it slammed into the monster, knocking it away to see the cloud again, "Horn Attack!" The horns shined white as it struck the cloud, causing it to pop like a bubble.

"You got it!" Doc cheered, only for his machine to be sucker-punched by a monster. "Augh! Why aren't these things going away?!"

"Tantabagot's still in the dream realm, so any nightmares that occur will remain until it's out." She turned to him, "I have to find the real one."

"Go! I'll be fine here." Luna nodded before the two vanished in a bright light, Doc turning back to the monsters. "I hope."





"Now where are we?" Luna asked as she and Slumberam now found themselves up in the sky. "Who's dream is this?"

"YAHOO!" exclaimed a certain boy with purple dragon wings sprouting from his back. He was doing several barrel rolls and loop-the-loops. "This is awesome!"

"It sure is," Luna chuckled as she and Slumberam floated up to Spike's side, "And if we want it to stay awesome, we have to find Tantabagot." But as she said this, the purple cloud appeared in front of them. "THERE!"

The three quickly started to chase the cloud, only for it fly into a normal cloud. "Where'd it go?" Spike asked as before seeing the sky turn black as the clouds began to swirl into a giant storm that morphed into the shape of a dragon. "Uh-oh." The cloud dragon's head then came down, trying to bite them. But as it did this, Spike took a deep breath before unleashing a stream of green fire at the cloud.

"Well done Spike." Luna added before seeing a Tantabagot piece fly out of the cloud, "There it is! Horn Attack!"

"RAM!" her Pokémon roared as it tried to charge at the beast, only for it dodge the attack.

As it did this, the cloud dragon reappeared. "Oh no!" Spike yelped, only to see Luna and Slumberam follow after the Tantabagot fragment out of the dream. "Wait!"

"Stay strong Spike. I'm sorry, but I have to chase the Tantabagot to end this."





The next dream instantly appeared for Luna as she now found herself flying over a large stadium. "Now what is this?" she asked as she looked down, only to see Flash and Springer standing on one side of the field. On the other side were several shadowy figures directing a bunch of legendary Pokémon. Ones like Groudon, Giratina, Mewtwo, Lugia, Zekrom and others were now glaring down at them.

"Aura Sphere!" Flash commanded, Springer launching the blue orb across the field. The attack hit the Giratina before exploding, only for the force of the blow caused an explosion that knocked out every opponent instantly. "YES!"

"HE'S DONE IT!" An announcer yelled, "FLASH SENTRY HAS CLAIMED VICTORY AND HAS DEFEATED EVERY KNOWN TRAINER IN THE WORLD!"

"Someone sure has an ego," Luna deadpanned. "And Giratina's immune to Aura Sphere." But as she said this, Tantabagot's cloud swooped down to the stadium and began hoping from one legendary to another. "Oh no. Quickly!" Slumberam flew down and tried to use Horn Attack on the cloud, but it dodged again before infecting the last Pokémon.

Flash was pulled from his cheers when he saw the legendaries pick themselves up, all beginning to mutate into monstrous versions of themselves. The teen gasped as he now saw dream Springer instantly get crushed under Groudon's foot, only to see Luna above him. The sight made Flash remember what Luna told him, his eyes clenching as he started to think before a flash of light summoned a gatling gun into his hand. "Oh yeah!" He pointed it at the beasts, "Say hello to my Aura Sphere Barrage!"

The gun began to fire, a volley of smaller versions of Springer's multi attack, slamming them into all of the deformed legendaries. "YES!" he cheered as he saw them turn into dust piles, only for the clouds to suddenly start swirling. Luna and Slumberam landed beside Flash at this point, Flash then yelling, "Bring it on! I'm ready for whatever you throw at me!"

But as the dust fell away, a new sight appeared...one that made Luna raise an eyebrow. The Pokémon had become sock puppets.

"What?" Was all Luna could ask before hearing Flash's scream, turning to see him drop the gatling gun.

"GYAH!" He screamed as the puppets started to slither over to him, their googly eyes rattling as they moved. "GET AWAY!"

"Extrasensory!" A rainbow beam shot out of the ram, knocking them back as Luna flew past Flash. "Try to wake yourself up if you can!" He nodded as she flew off into another dream, Flash now attempting to pinch himself awake.





Luna and Slumberam continued to make their way through the many dreams of their friends, finding all of them turning into nightmares. There was one with Springer trapped in a room that was getting smaller and smaller. One showed Prongs's home forest burning, while another was Shine getting attacked by a Piedoom. The next showed Skyler's wings beginning to lose their feathers, while Riptide's was one where everyone rejected him.

And as the nightmares kept happening, Luna then found herself in a dream located in a library. The sight made her easily find Twilight sitting at a desk, reading a book. But before they could call out to her, a certain cloud flew into a book, turning it into a monstrous version of it.

Hearing a low growl, Twilight turning and gasping as she saw several books now morph into beasts. "Aaaah!" She screamed as she quickly ducked under the table, only for the book to eat the top of the furniture. Gasping at this, she began to run away, only to instantly trip over her own feet. "Eep!"

And as she flopped to the ground, Luna and Slumberam appeared between them. "RAM!" the Pokémon roared as it unleashed an Extrasensory, knocking the books back.

"Luna!" Twilight cheered, only to see both Luna and Slumberam panting. But as she saw this, her eyes followed the cloud as it flew into some darkness now appearing in the library, vanishing before a pair of blood red eyes shined on the library wall. They were joined by a giant shadow, which was goat-like in shape. "Is that it?"

"Yes," Luna replied while nodding. "And its much bigger than I thought. It's growing stronger, which is because of the fear caused by these nightmares must be feeding it." They both glared at it, "But we will not be stopped."

"But Tantabagot's a Dark-type," Twilight added. "Slumberam's a Psychic-type, which means Tantabagot has the advantage."

"That does not matter!" Slumberam charged at the giant goat shadow, only to be countered by a Dark Pulse. "Watch out!" Slumberam dodged before trying to use Horn Attack, only for the shadow to move and cause Slumberam to hit the wall. "What?! Where did it go?"

But as she looked around, she noticed Twilight getting surrounded by the monster books, and she wasn't the only one. Doc's machine had been knocked offline, the scrap monsters tearing it apart. Spike had been grabbed by the cloud dragon and was about to be eaten while Flash's gun was out of ammo. "How can a dream gun run out of ammo!?" he yelled into the dreams, Luna now seeing the goat shadow again before it vanished into a flash of dark light.





"AAAAAHHHHH!" Everyone and their Pokémon screamed, everyone shooting out of the beds with nothing but fear on their faces.

Everyone turned to each other, seeing sweat and gasps as Flash muttered out, "That..." He shook his head as he tried to pick a word. "Sucked."

"I'll say," Spike curled himself up and began to shake, "I don't ever want have that dream ever again."

The others all whimpered in agreement, Shine trying to hide her face in her mane as she curled up in Twilight's arms. Flash found his Pokémon all hugging him as well, Peewee mimicking Spike by also going into a fetal position. And as this happened, Doc asked, "But was Luna able to catch it?"

"I am so sorry, my friends." They all looked up to see Luna and Slumberam float down. "We failed." They touched down before Luna let out a long shameful sigh, "It will be back to infect your dreams the next time you sleep."

"That's not good. That's not good at all." Twilight cried while tightly hugging Shine.

Doc sighed in agreement, "I know I could go the rest of my life without seeing that thing again."

"You won't have to if you leave town," Luna replied, "And if we do not find a way to stop it, that may end up being the fate of everyone here. They will leave this town and travel someplace else, but that will not solve the problem. Tantabagot will simply move to another town and start again, feeding on the fears of everyone until it grows into an unstoppable force."

Everyone shook at this thought, Spike chiming in next, "So...what do we do?"

"Catch it, of course," Flash responded.

"But how?" Doc added, "Luna couldn't stop that thing and that was only when it was using a little piece of itself."

"Agreed. The only way to stop Tantabagot is to defeat it when it's whole..." Luna crossed her arms at her own words, "But there's no way to get it to summon its entire self into one dream. That would be like being at a buffet and being told you can only eat one type of food. There's no way it'll turn up to such a feast."

Twilight blinked at her odd description, only for a bulb to go off in her head, "Well...what if we limited its serving options?" Luna turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "I did a little research on Slumberam earlier, and I remember seeing something about it having the power to create shared dreams."

"That's true..." Luna replied as Slumberam nodded in agreement.

"If that's the case, what if you merged everyone's dream into a single one? That way, all the pieces of Tantabagot will be in one place."

Luna shook her head at this, "I get where you're going...but to merge that many dreams, I'm not sure Slumberam has the strength." She turned to her Pokémon, the ram nodding back at her. "But you want me to try, don't you? I see. I suspect that's our only hope." She then took out a Pokeball and opened it, her Primoon appearing in the room. "Primoon, I need your help."

"Moon," she nodded as Luna turned to the others.

"Listen. If we try this idea, it'll likely make it impossible for Slumberam to battle, so we may have to try and fight it ourselves."

"I'm down for that," Flash replied as the others nodded.

"Then rest," she told them. "Rest and pray Slumberam can create such a dream." Everyone laid back down, all feeling themselves drift off to sleep as Slumberam flew above them. This time, more strings than anyone could possibly count flew out of its horns, some hitting their heads while others flew out the room and began attaching to the heads of the entire town's population.

And in a flash of light, the shared dream had begun.





Luna blinked at the first sight she saw in the dream, now finding herself standing outside the Pokémon Center. She turned to see the others and their Pokémon beside her, only to then see the rest of the townsfolk walk around them. "Did it work?" She heard Spike ask, "Are we dreaming?"

"I'd say yes," Flash replied as he pointed at the moon, everyone seeing it had turned into a giant cupcake.

"Wow!" Spike gasped, only for them to suddenly feel the ground shake. They turned to the sound of the vibrations, gasping as they now saw a thirty foot Deerling walk down the street. The sight made them go wide-eyed, now seeing oranges with wings, people swimming through the air and even a street lamp walking down the street with tipping its 'hat' at them.

"Now this is truly bizarre." Doc commented as they now saw Magikarp flying by them, alongside a floating Diglett...which its underside was covered by rocks.

"Huh. Say, where's Slumberam?"

Luna pointed upward as she replied to the question, "Up there!" They all saw the Pokémon, the ram hovering in a sphere being generated from its horns. The look on its face showed it was struggling to keep this dream together. "Don't worry, we'll try and make this quick. Just stay strong."

"But we still don't know what Tantabagot is," Twilight added as they now saw the whole town's population began to surround them.

Seeing this, Luna moved over to a sudden appearing soap box, now towering over them all. "People and Pokémon of this fair town, please listen to me. You're probably wondering what's going on. The simple fact is, my Slumberam created a single dream for you all to enter in a hopes of stopping the cause of your nightmares." The townsfolk all murmured at this as she continued, "It's name is Tantabagot, and if we don't stop it, it'll keep causing nightmares and feeding off your fears."

She then pointed to a small piece of it as it floated over a nearby building, "Look, there it is!" They all turned to see it move across the town, which was soon joined by other pieces of itself. These blobs soon turned to hundreds as they all flew to the same spot, all spiraling around one another until they took shape of a creature Flash had seen in his dream.

"There it is..." he whispered.

The dark shroud faded to show Tantabagot's true form, the being now standing at about twenty meters in height. "BAGOT!" It roared before shooting beams from its eyes, hitting several houses and causing them to grow giant legs, fiery eyes and fanged mouths.

Many began to scream run as the houses began to move, Twilight, Spike and some of their Pokémon amongst them. But as they did this, Flash and Springer stood firm. "FLASH!" Twilight screamed, "What are you doing?!"

"Remember, this is just a dream." The monster house charged at Springer as he did the same, the Riolu suddenly forming and launching a ten foot Aura Sphere. Within seconds, the house was turned to splinters as the orb blasted it to pieces as Flash pointed at the Tantabagot, "You might have been scary when we were alone, but now it's different!" Another house charged at them, "Now that we're all together, we can't lose! Especially if we know its nothing but a dream!" With that, a familiar looking blue orb appeared in his hand, throwing it at the house, "AURA SPHERE!"

Everyone gasped as the house exploded, Flash hopping on top of the debris with a smirk on his face. His friends all smiled at the sight, Spike running up next as he squinted his eyes. He was then consumed in a bright light, which faded to reveal he was eight feet tall with a cape, armor and bulging biceps, "Nice. After all, if you're gonna dream, might as well dream big, right?"

"Terra!" Peewee added as he grew till he was twice the size of a Charizard. "TERRA!"

"Let's go!" Spike cheered as he leapt on his back, Peewee taking to the air as a lance appeared in his hand.

Doc and Twilight ran up next, Doc holding up his screwdriver as a bunch of sonic waves shot out at the monster houses. Twilight envisioned a bag and it appeared in her hand, a swarm of flying books flying out of it. And as they did this, the townsfolk started to follow their examples. Many Pokémon suddenly morphed into their evolved forms, and a Medicham even Mega Evolved while someone's Tyranitar even transformed into a mecha form.

Tantabagot let out a growl before opening its mouth, unleashing a Dark Pulse. But as this happened, someone's Bronzor appeared and grew in size, bouncing off the attack at the same time. And as it shrank from the blow, the other Pokémon unleashed their attacks. Spike and Peewee lead a charge of flying Pokémon, Skyler, Owlicious and Flitanium among them. The teen slashed the goat's side with his lance while Peewee unleashed a powerful Dragon Rage attack. The Flying-types then attacked with Air Cutters, Hurricanes and Gusts.

Owlicious let out a loud hoot, causing the books Twilight had summoned to move at his command before slamming into the ram like missiles. And as this happened, Flitanium flew up with glowing legs, the lights merging before they faded to reveal a large booster rocket.

"FLY!" It yelled as it ignited, slamming into the ram with a Iron Head attack.

As this happened, many people morphed into their favorite fictional characters. Some became super heroes, equipped with all their powers while others turned into knights and even Pokémon that they had made up as a kid. One guy even morphed into a pirate, completely with flying galleon that fired its canons at Tantabagot before attacking at ramming speed.

"We've got it on the ropes!" Twilight cheered.

"Tant!" the ram roared back, the houses from earlier floating up into the air, the pieces them forming a large sphere that suddenly lit on fire. Seeing this, the group came to a stop as he fired the now house meteor at them.

"RUSH!" Hopper barked as he ran up with his tiny wings glowing. In a flash, they morphed till they were three times larger than his own body. "RUSH!" he barked again as he beat them, unleashing a powerful gust of wind. The force of the air smacked the fireball back, changing its course right back into Tantabagot.

BOOM!

"Tant!" it yelped as the ram staggered back from the blow.

"Nice one bud!" Flash cheered, Hopper letting out a happy bark as Shine ran over to Twilight.

"What is it?" She asked her, Shine wagging her tail before she was consumed by light. The light grew before fading, revealing Shine was now big enough to ride. "Ah! I getcha." Twilight hopped onto her back, Shine neighing as she charged. "Mystical Fire!" Shine unleashed the flames, the fire striking Tantabagot.

Twilight cheered at this, only to feel the ground shake. She turned to see Doc riding the giant robot from his dream, the mech now firing hundreds of missiles. This was followed by the Mecha Tyranitar shooting a laser and other Pokémon launching their long range attacks, all making the ram cry out in pain.

"YES!" Luna yelled before looking up at her Slumberam, "Just hold on a little longer. We're driving it back."

But as she said this, Tantabagot unleashed a mighty roar that echoed through the dream town. "BAGOT!" it screeched, the ground splitting apart as black tentacles shot out of the cracks and began to attack them.

"Tore!" Riptide cried as he shot water at one of the tentacles, only for it to do nothing. "Nee?" he yelped, only for an Energy Ball and Flamethrower hit it as well, making the tentacle exploded. "Spran!" Riptide gasped before turning to see Viper and Prongs.

They shared a look and smiled before Riptide held his hand out, Prongs putting his hoof atop it with Viper doing the same with his tail. The trio were then consumed by a light before their forms merged into one large being, soon revealing a fifteen foot fusion of the three starters. It was centaur-like in appearance, having Riptide's arms and chest along with Prong's body and legs. Viper's tail was coming out the back with his head being used for the fusion's. Riptide's head-fin was coming out its head and Prong's antlers were coming out.

The fusion let out a roar, which sounded like the three starters all crying together, before it charged at the tentacles. It opened its mouth while raising its hands, fire and green energy appearing in its grasp while water appeared in its mouth. It then shot them all at the same time, merging into one attack that sliced through the tentacles.

At the same time, Primoon was using its Mach Punch and Moon Burst attacks to deal Tantabagot damage. The goat then glared at her before unleashing another Dark Pulse, Primoon hopping to the side before transforming into her Full Moon Forme. "MOON!" She roared before firing an even more powerful Moon Burst attack.

"We've got it on the ropes!" Doc yelled from within his robot's cockpit, "Keep hammering at it." But as he said this, Tantabagot jumped onto its back hooves. And when it slammed its front hooves down, a shockwave of dark energy flew out in all directions.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone screamed in pain as they were thrown back, many of their dream transformations and creations vanishing as they hit the ground, the only ones not hit being Luna and Slumberam.

"No!" Luna screamed as she saw everyone fall.

And before she could try anything, Flash picked himself up and yelled, "Get up everyone! We can't give up!"

The others nodded as they picked themselves up, "We can't let Slumberam's efforts be in vain."

But as those words came out, Tantabagot quickly looked up, now seeing the floating Slumberam. It opened its mouth next, preparing another Dark Pulse. "NOOOOO!" Luna screamed as she ran between her Pokémon and the attack, "Don't you hurt her!" She threw her hands together, focusing as hard as possible as a light flew out of her, forming a barrier that blocked the Dark Pulse. "GYAH!" She cried at the blow, making her stagger back.

"Professor Luna!" Twilight yelled as she ran up and held out her hand, a light flying out of her as it mixed into the barrier to strengthen it. One by one, everyone else did the same, working to protect Slumberam.

"KEEP PUSHING!" Flash yelled.

"We have to protect Slumberam!" Doc added.

"PUSH!" Spike finished, Slumberam opening its eyes to see everyone trying to protect it. And when the Dark Pulse ended, the Dream Sheep then saw everyone fall over with the barrier.

"So tired," Flash groaned.

"Can't...keep fighting," Twilight panted, Tantabagot chuckling at this. But as it was about to charge another attack, a voice rang out.

"SLUMBER!" It looked up to see a purple light shot off the floating ram's body, the light enveloping everyone as it grew to a shape that was almost as large as Tantabagot. It then took shape, morphing into an image of Slumberam with everyone floating inside it.

"Awesome..." Flash gasped as he and Springer floated around. Everyone then saw Slumberam float down, glaring at the foe before turning to everyone.

"RAM!"

"Of course...that's it!" Luna yelled before turning to the others, "Everyone, focus and combine your energy. Give it all to Slumberam!"

Everyone nodded and began to focus, each of them glowing with their light flying over to Slumberam. The Dream Sheep bathed in the energy before focusing on Tantabagot, the energy construct around them opening its mouth and firing a giant beam of energy.

"TANT!" The Nightmare Pokémon roared as it fired its own blast, the two meeting in the center of town. But as they began to push, everyone's lights poured into Slumberam, the sheep's beam now growing even more. And as it pushed Tangabagot back, the goat screamed as the beam strike his head, "BAGOT!" Was all it could say before it exploded, the light flying over the town and hitting the many dreamers.





Everyone's eyes shot open, all gasping as they hopped out of their beds. But as they did this, they all saw they were back in the Pokémon Center.

"We're back!" Twilight cheered, only to hear a loud 'thud'.

"Slumberam!" Luna cried as she ran over to her Pokémon, the sheep moaning as it fell to the floor. "Oh Slumberam...you were marvelous. I'm so proud of you. Thanks to you, everyone was able to defeat Tantabagot and expel him from the dream world."

"But what happened to Tantabagot?" Spike asked, only for his ears to hear an explosion outside. Turning to the noise, they ran over and saw a bright purple light appear outside of the center.

"Its the Tantabagot!" Luna yelled as she returned her Pokémon, "Let's go!"

They all followed her as they ran out of the center, now seeing other people stepping out of their homes. And as they did this, Tantabagot saw the people, making it growl as it tried to pick itself up, "Tant!"

"Tantabagot!" It turned to Luna, "Your days of tormenting people ends now." She took out a Pokeball, "I'll make sure you never create another nightmare again. Pokeball, GO!" She threw the sphere at the nightmare goat, a red swirl sucking up the ram in one go before the orb fell to the ground.

It wobbled for several long seconds until it let out a ding, signaling the beast's capture. The entire town exploded into applause as Luna moved over to pick the Pokeball up, everyone beginning to congratulate each other on a job well done. But after they all finished their cheers, the lack of sleep caught up to everyone, the town going empty next as they all ran back to their beds.





The next morning...

As the sun rose above the horizon, everyone was now up and about. Each had a look of rejuvenation on their faces, crystal clear evidence of a good night's sleep. And on the edge of town, Luna was seeing Flash and the others off as they headed to Foal Mountain.

"You have my thanks for all the help you offered me," Luna told them. "I will now be working hard to keep Tantabagot from causing any more trouble."

"I'm sure we can trust you with that," Doc replied, "With enough training, it'll turn over a new leaf."

"I'm just glad I don't have to worry about having bad dreams again," Spike added.

"Yeah!" Flash cheered while stretching his arms, "I'm gonna need a good nights sleep if I want to win my sixth badge."

"I'm sure you'll get it, and I'll be routing for you." Luna replied before reaching into her bag, "Oh, right...I ran into some kids earlier and they made me something as a thank you gift."

"Really? What is it?" Flash asked, only for Luna to pull out a Riolu sock puppet.

"Aw, how cute." Twilight commented, only to see Flash just stare at it without blinking, sweat appearing on his face. "Flash?"

"GYAH!" he screamed, Flash spinning and bolting down the path away from the town. They all blinked in confusion before sharing a look, the group breaking out into laughter as Luna showed them more puppets designed after their Pokémon.

Their rest stop in the small town had been anything but relaxing, but they were still proud that they were able to help the people there. Now with their sights set firmly on the city of Cloudsdale, they walked with their heads held high. As the journey continues