“I don’t know how this sort of thing is physically possible,” Roxanne murmured to Matt as she leaned against the fridge, her eyes closed, hands on her stomach. “If it’s a Pokemon doing this then it should have to be somewhere nearby but it’s not.” Her black hair was wet from an early morning shower and her swelling belly was hidden beneath a black bathrobe.
“Indeed, I don’t know what kind of Pokemon has that sort of ability,” Matt said, his blonde hair combed back. He sat in a chair next to the kitchen table, sipping some coffee. “Not only that but to affect both Cres and Applejack at the same time... it concerns me we might be dealing with an unknown Pokemon.” His green eyes glance up to his wife. “And I don’t mean Unown.”
“I was aware,” she said, frowning as she opened her eyes. “I need to do more research on this...” her fingers began to tap on the fridge before her eyes hardened. “Whoever this is isn’t hurting us.” It was a bold statement and Matt could see her inner fire rising. “I’m a professor, dammit.”
“Well then I wish you the best of luck,” Matt said taking one more sip of his coffee before rubbing the back of his hand over his lips. He reached over to grab the crutches rest against the table and stood up. “I need to head to my Gym before my first challenger comes in.” He moved over to her and gave a light kiss on her cheek. “Take care.”
“Oh I will,” she said, kissing him back as she pushed herself away from the fridge, moving into the family room and sitting down on the couch, pulling out her laptop from where it had been sitting on a side table. In the back of Roxanne’s mind she noticed Applejack, who was still curled up in a shivering little ball, but ignored her, she had research to do. “Belle, come here and help me scan,” she called.
As the red Absol approached Roxanne, Matt hobbled out of the kitchen and looked at the shivering mare. He felt guilty for not being able to help her out, or at least talk to her to try to ease things down. It made him feel a bit... useless at the moment. Thankfully at least he could see Applejack wouldn’t fully be alone. He adjusted his gaze over to the chair to see Ohm resting on it, fully awake with his eyes resting upon the mare.
The man nodded his head in approval before heading for the door, surprised to see Cres waiting for him. “Coming with me to the Gym I guess?” he asked as he stood in front of the door, glancing down at the Absol.
“I need to clear my head, fighting will help that,” Cres said. He glanced up at Matt, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “And you need someone with you who can protect you.”
I think I have plenty of Pokemon to do that, Matt thought to himself but he just nodded his head. “Alright then, if you think you’re up to it I won’t stop ya.” The man reached out to turn the handle and opened the door, turning his head around over his shoulders to look at his wife typing away with her laptop. “I’ll see you tonight,” he told her, receiving no reply on his way out.
The door closed with a solid click and Matt stood in front of the door for a moment before letting out a single sigh. Arceus, help us figure this out. He whispered in his mind before returning his hand to his crutches and starting to make his way down the hallway, Cres padding along beside him, the Absol’s eyes ever on high alert.
Meanwhile, Roxanne continued her search for information, finally starting to dig up something relevant. Instead of searching for Pokemon who could cause advanced nightmares, she searched for more of reports of people and/or Pokemon having severe trauma associated with those nightmares. The results were... staggering.
“... Belle, please tell me I’m not reading these reports right,” Roxanne said quietly after the seventh report.
A crippled man had died screaming in his sleep. An elderly Pokemon had befallen the same fate. Several members of an entire family had suffered equally, all expiring on the same night. And more and more reports of similar incidents, spanning from weeks, months, or even years ago sprung up.
Belle shook her head as she was leaning against Roxanne’s side. “I’m afraid not...” she replied in a somber tone before glancing over at Applejack worriedly. “This... is a problem....” Ohm’s ears flickered slightly as he picked up her words and she could see the Luxray’s eyes ever so slightly shifting over to her.
Roxanne just put a hand behind her head and scratched as she continued reading. Not all of them could be the same Pokemon, there were obviously outliers. It spanned too many regions and to pin everything on one single Pokemon, not to mention that there had always been Pokemon with the ability to enter dreams. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch, mind trying to think of a way to narrow her search.
Belle’s mind was also whirling away at a thought. There must be a way to prevent this... after all, it’s not like preventing Nightmares was a new idea. Psychic types were known to do that and... that’s it! “Psychic types!”
“Hmm? What is it dear?” Roxanne asked, glancing down at Belle, quickly grabbing a pen and a piece of paper for Belle to write with.
The Absol quickly grabbed the pencil with her mouth and began to hastily, but carefully write on the piece of paper. ‘Go search for reports of people preventing these type of nightmares with Psychic Pokemon,’ she wrote down in a nearly flawless script.
Roxanne was quiet for a moment before she smiled, leaning down to kiss Belle on the top of her red furred head. “A good idea my little Belle,” she said before she turned back to the computer and began to type rapidly.
In doing so she quickly came to a conclusion. There were two types of cases. Those that had gone ‘undiagnosed’ for too long, and those which had been caught and saved.
Young girl saved from death by mother’s Alakazam.
Mary Alison was suffering from extreme nightmares, leaving her barely capable of functioning the next day. The nightmares became so severe that her mother became worried for the girl’s life. That night the mother brought her Alakazam to watch over her sleeping daughter and Mrs. Alison reported that whatever it was that had been tormenting her daughter in her sleep had retreated after being bested.
Roxanne frowned faintly as that and glanced down at Belle. “Hmm, this gives me an idea,” she murmured to herself. “I wonder how effective Xemnas would be at this, he’s rather powerful...” She smiled. “And he’d give us all the ability to talk to each other and that’s always nice hmm?”
Belle nodded her head. “Indeed... though that means we need to take Applejack to the lab,” she said, pointing a paw at the mare before gesturing it to the door. “I doubt Xemnas will fit inside the apartment.”
“I know we need to move her sweety,” Roxanne said, shaking her head. “Xemnas is heavy enough to break the floor.” The woman then leaned over and gently put a hand on Applejack’s back. The mare’s back shivered at the touch and reactively moved away from the woman’s hand. “Applejack, we need to go somewhere else where someone can help you.”
The mare didn’t respond, or at least not to Roxanne’s statement. “I didn’t mean to do it... I didn’t mean to do it... I didn’t mean to do it...” she whimpered out so softly, curling up even tighter into the corner of the couch.
The woman frowned deeply and glanced down at Belle. “I don’t know if I can move her like this...”
Right as she said that Ohm got up from his spot on the chair and moved over to the couch. He props himself onto the edge of the couch. He leaned his head over to grab Applejack gently with his mouth and dragged her off and onto his back. The mare didn’t resist in the slightest, and surprisingly went limp across his back.
“Ah, thank you Ohm,” Roxanne said with a smile as she got to her feet, patting the Luxray on the head for a moment with a smile before she kissed him on the forehead. “Such a sweet cat. I’ll be with you in just a moment, I need to change.” With that, she got up and went into the bedroom.
“I don’t like the way this is going for either Applejack or-” Belle sucked in a breath. “Or for Cres.” She glanced at the limp, whimpering mare on Ohm’s back, worry in her eyes.
“Then we must find a way to prevent this from ever happening again,” Ohm replied, his voice calm yet very firm, his eyes holding a determined glint in them. “This battle isn’t over.”
“Not by a long shot,” Belle said, her voice firm. “I’ve already lost him once, it won’t happen again.”
“And I will not let her come to harm once more,” Ohm said, causing Belle to raise her eyebrow at him.
Roxanne came out of the bedroom wearing her labcoat and pants. To the Pokemon’s surprise she was carrying a short black blanket which she threw around Applejack’s body, obscuring her from the world. She then got down on one knee, leaning beneath the Luxray and quickly tying the ends off. The woman then straightened, letting out a sigh and shaking her head.
“I hate being pregnant,” she muttered before glancing down at Ohm and scratching at his ears. “You okay to walk like that Ohm?” The Luxray simply nodded his head in response. “Good, let’s get a move on then, we need to get things set up.” She slapped Ohm gently on the side and started for the door, Belle at her side and Ohm on her other.
Dirt filled Cres’s vision, a great cloud of it swirling around the Absol. The whole stadium was obscured as the opponent bounced off of the boulders, the floor, everything in sight, blowing up a plume of dust. Cres grit his teeth as the Donphan’s speed seemed to increase again and he barely managed to leap to the side in time to avoid the rocketing ball of armored hide. The Donphan slammed into one of the boulders and pulverized it with bone crushing strength.
Ordinarily, Cres lived for high level matches but today was different, he felt slow and weary.
“You’re doing fine Cres!” Matt shouted from his spot on the south side of the gym. “Keep dodging his attacks and look for the perfect time to strike!”
Cres only distantly heard the encouragement but nodded his head, narrowing his eyes and leaping away just in time to avoid being slammed into from above. He hated Rollout.
“JUST STOP ALREADY!” he roared, the dirt ripping at his fur as the Donphan cruised past him again, shattering another boulder.
“Mhahahah,” the Donphan chuckled deeply as it unfurled and landed on his feets. “What’s the matter? Can’t take the heat?”
Instead of replying, Cres gritted his teeth and growled lowly. His legs bent and then suddenly launched him at the Donphan, blade glowing.
“Donphan, use Horn Attack!” the male, a man wearing glasses with a brown coat and matching hat ordered the Pokemon.
The Donphan smiled as his tusks glowed and he charged the Absol, ready to smack the smaller Pokemon down with ease. Cres however was much more agile and he evaded the pair of gleaming tusks, moving to the side at the last moment and bringing his blade scouring along the Donphan’s side, a bit of blood leaking from the new, shallow cut. Cres leapt away before a retaliatory blow could be struck and his red eyes narrowed as a droplet of blood stained his white coat.
“Not so fast when you’re not rolling are you?” he asked with a smirk.
The Donphan glared down at Cres, his feet prodding at the ground in frustration. “Hah! You think a scratch like that is going to take me down! You’re going to need to do better than that you oversized Skitty!”
“A true fighter would have attacked by now,” Cres said.
“Donphan use Take Down!” the male trainer shouted, and with that the elephant like Pokemon charged at Cres with blazing speed, head held down to ram into the Absol’s whole body.
“Cres dodge and use Night Slash again on his back!” Matt ordered.
Cres’s knees bunched again and he sprang into the air, coming down on the Donphan’s back as it closed with him, his blade slashing down into the Donphan’s back in another spray of blood. The Donphan let out a trumpet of pain as it continued on with it’s Take Down attack and rammed right into a bolder, cracking it apart in three sections. Cres leapt off of the rolling elephant and landed a few feet away, his white fur even more red than before.
Ordinarily that would have been enough, but in a high level match both combatants continued until they were incapable of it.
“It’s not over yet! Donphan use Magnitude and give it all you got!” the male trainer shouted out dramatically. The Donphan shook itself, still bleeding from the back wound and turned to Cres with a determined look. It raised its forelegs high in the air before slamming them down.
The ground shook, gently at first and becoming steadily more violent. The whole gym building was shaking back and forth, some cracks forming on the ground. Matt braced himself on his crutches and he let out a yelp of surprise. Cres’s eyes narrowed and he let out a blood curdling snarl as images from the night before filled his mind. Suddenly he wasn’t in the gym anymore, he was back in the apartment and it was Applejack rearing before him, ready to bring down the house on everyone he loved.
“YOU DARE!” the red and white Absol shrieked, launching himself forwards over the shaking ground, long days of training with Nok guiding his paws. He reached the Donphan as it raised its feet in the air to attack again, his blade glowing darkly.
The headblade dug deeply into the Donphan’s neck and blood sprayed as Cres finished the motion, pulling the blade out with another wash of blood, his vision black with rage. His heart beat hard against his chest and his paws distantly felt the quickly forming pool as his mind began to slow.
A breath was caught in his chest and suddenly everything was spinning. He heard shouting in the back of his mind but it was distant and somehow removed from him as familiar evil laughter rolled through his head.
Then suddenly he was gone, wrapped in the red glow of his Pokeball and back in the darkness.
Matt held the Ultra Ball in his hand, looking at it in complete shock and disbelief. “What the hell just happened,” he whispered at it before his mind returned to the ‘now’ to the Donphan and its trainer.
The Donphan was grunting weakly as it tried to return to its feet and the trainer had run forwards, a dozen bandages and a potion in either hand. “Donny!” he shouted, grabbing the Donphan to steady the heavily bleeding Pokemon before bringing the potion up and spraying at the cut with bloody hands. The elephant let out a low groan and leaned against the trainer as its neck wound began to seal itself as bandages were pressed against it.
“What the hell was that?!” the trainer shouted over to Matt as he helped his Pokemon.
“I... don’t know what got into him,” Matt said before shaking his head and glancing over to his reserve Pokemon. “Xerox, call the the PokeCenter, now!” he ordered the Zoroark who firmly nodded his head and ran off.
“If Donny dies because of this I’m going to...” the trainer fixed Matt with a deep glare, his breaths coming in and out rapidly as he finally managed to completely staunch the bleeding. “I’m going to...”
“Don’t think about it now, just keep pressure on the wound,” Matt said, cutting the young trainer off. He hastily moved his way his way over to them. “Eclair, bring me the emergency first aid kit,” he ordered as he carefully knelt down next to the Donphan.
The rest passed in a blur, the ambulance arrived and then departed taking the Donphan and the trainer away leaving Matt standing there at the door with Cres’ Ultra ball in his hand. Through it all, one thought remained heavy in his mind. What were you thinking Cres?
Darkrai strikes again...
Ehh, not buying it. The whole concept of Pokemon fighting to K.O with moves like hyper-beam and shadow blade is just silly, there's no way for a successful hit to be made without the target loosing a limb or dying making all high level moves useless because the combatants have to hold back. The only place Pokemon battles work is is lighthearted children's fiction, the second you add an ounce of seriousness it's just dumb.
Man what powers does this Pokemon NOT have
So... This is affecting Cres with his Insanity?
You have a Mon named Xemnas? You just won the internet.
5612130
So you'd prefer if every battle was to the death then?
5612130
Hmmmm.... Crossover between Pokemon and MLP:FiM. I think you're taking this work of fiction too seriously. I would be disappointed if this chapter is the whole reason for the "Gore" tag.
5612421
The "Gore" tag was add more to Applejack's first nightmare.
5612456
...I'll await author confirmation of that...
I still think it's a great popcorn read. Never got into the Pokemon fad myself.
5612421 Nope, I disagree completely. What I mean is that the story is taking the battle too seriously or not seriously enough depending on your view. The only ways for an actual battle to happen between two creature that can slice through solid rock and blast solid steel into vapor is to do it in such a cartoonish way that, like in the Pokemon show, the participants receive no lasting injury during the battle even from direct hit or there could have been a device that automatically teleports Pokemon out of the area if it detects an incoming fatal blow. To do it any other way makes the whole thing feel fake, less a battle more a 'see who cares less if they actually hurt their opponent' contest.
5612301
Yes actually that would make much more sense but I just provided two other options above.
5612483
The thing with Japanese culture is that their martial arts are about control. It is mostly about control and precision. As with items that Westerners would just consider tools/weapons, Easterners consider them extensions of themselves. An out-of-control Pokemon means to them an out-of-control trainer. It doesn't matter if they won or lost so much as to how much control they had in execution. I think the author translates that appropriately. Pokemon as a game/simulation is a great place to practice that. Much more difficult to practice that in a culture that has a difficult grasp on control.
Your view isn't any less valid, but I do disagree with it for the beliefs stated above.
5612483
Do you watch pro wrestling? A lot of those guys can easily destroy someone in a real fight. The piledriver is a finishing move that is banned almost everywhere because it actually can kill someone if done even just slightly wrong. The idea is that all of this is just a sport, full powered to the death attacks unnecessary and uncalled for. Got it?
5612130 I like the headcanon that Pokemon HP is a bit like a pool of energy that prevents lethal damage and that the actual attacks are laced or completely made of the opposite version of the energy. Thats why they faint and the battle stops there. If they kept fighting(using traditional battle methods) not much would happen, preventing overkill. However a big sharp horn to the throat is still a big sharp horn to the throat.
5612109 well... either darkrai was the cause of NMM, or it's someone else, this situation and the character involved seem very similar, both are trying to be darker reflections with the power to cause nightmares, I don't think that's cannon to NMM, but it would fit very well with what we have seen of Luna's powers.
5612571 18 seconds in.
Vegeta: Wrestling's fake
Got it?
Red and white absol? I don't know if I haven't noticed this before but is Cres or Belle shiny?
5612639
Not my point. My brother is a wrestler and i even trained for it myself.
Do you know what the piledriver is? And please keep this at least slightly not stupid.
5612650
Cres is white unless he's got blood on him, Belle is shiny
5612630
...what if Darkrai is possessed by the nightmare?
5612693 I wouldn't put it past the nightmare, from, at least my personal headcannon, The Nightmare and Nightmare Moon are 2 different things, with the nightmare wanting chaos and death, and Nightmare Moon being an unfortunate, indoctrinated minion, which would explain how sometimes she is able to be reformed, and other times, not so much.
5612639 watch this and tell me that that isn't dangerous.
The average wrestler weighs about 200 pounds. That is 200 pounds falling down on to a very fragile body part. One little slip, and dead.
5612656 Why? I'm already a 19 year old posting critique on a fanfic about a show for ages 2-11 at 3 AM, can't drop much lower than that.
Anyway
point out to me where in this story it states that certain moves are banned? They cause bloody earthquakes for goodness sake, there is no restrictions beyond do no serious harm to your opponent and I was giving my reasons why this was a bad idea and how it broke my suspension of disbelief and ruined the chapter for me when Ceres used his attack it hit and he got in trouble for it. Such events should be expected when you wave a blade around.
This is not wrestling, it is a Pokemon battle, the same rules don't apply and I fail to see how hyper beams with shadow balls and sharp blades can be handled in any productive way without causing serious harm. Fair enough in *ahem* "wrestling" it can be controlled like you are suggesting but last time I checked no wrestlers costume shoots laser beams or has blades stuck to it.
5612752 "Video in unavailable". But I'm going to assume it was a wrestling move. OK, explain to me how, if everything is in such delicate balance that a single mistake would kill someone and everything is not choreographed before going on screen, why have there not been more deaths? Is it not a competition? Surely to maintain this safety balance the opponent has to take some part in the move being used on him to make it safe. Doing this however nullifies any form of competition and, as I said before, the sport becomes a 'see who cares less if they actually hurt their opponent' contest.
5612814 ok one, i don't think my link worked so i may have wasted my time putting it up.
Second, why are you still putting such emphasis on it being fake? I told you i trained for it. I know already.
Third, my point (which we have strayed from) is that the pokemon are comparable to modern pro wrestlers as they can destroy their opponents if they were fighting to the death but are only in a sporting match and don't want to kill each other.
5612842 OK fine, It doesn't change the fact that all their moves are EASY to kill with. You try telling me that shadow balls and blades are easy things to use when your opponent has to be unable to stand for you to win. Even if they don't WANT to as the match drags on their exhaustion with reduce their accuracy and increase their determination. Tell me what happens then?
5612836 at this point I'm getting bored and just want to play a videogames so I'll explain the move and leave it at that.
To perform a piledriver you place your opponent's head between your legs, then lift them upside down. You then drop vertically, and drive their head into the mat/floor. Yes this move is choreographed because to just do it for real would break a neck. The only time it is used now is if the script calls for someone to be put out of action.
There are two big time wrestlers that i can think of that actually for real had their necks broken by this move in live matches. You don't seem like a fan so i won't bother listing names that you don't care about.
5612871
At this point the arguments are going around in circles (and filling up my feed), please stop replying.
5612464
I am one of the authors, and what I saying is the truth of why the Gore rating is on this fic for the most part.
I love how nobody even seemed to notice this:
Do you have something to share, Ohm?
5613889
I caught that, but it seems a bit odd. Interesting if that leads where I think we both think where that is going. Anyway it was really stupid of Matt to use Cres at the gym. He knew that both him and Applejack had super mega nightmare assault added to the fact that Cres has been high strung. Though Cres's usual method of releasing stress is fighting so I guess it made sense. Dang nightmare induced PTSD about the move Magnitude is brutal for Darkrai.
5614549
It WAS a bit of a miscalculation but Cres' favorite thing in the worlds go like this Belle>Xav>Matt>Clefairy Meat>Fighting so really, it wasn't a bad idea and it works under normal circumstances, just not these ones.
5615085
Don't fully blame the miscalculation. To be fair to Matt that was really bizarre for Cres. Though it will be a major pain for Matt not being able to have his Absol fight Ground types.
What Cres did at the end seemed to strike a chord in me, I can really understand the 'Family defense - blood lust' mechanic. It can be easy to go overboard if you are defending someone/thing you love, even with out a darker influence.
The darker influence definitely 'helps' though; "Because madness as you know, is like gravity, all it takes is a little 'push'." *chuckles*
Sorry I'm late, I've been busier than usual as of, lets get to it
:Over all, this chapter felt a little rushed. It distracted me how dull it felt. Even thought something extremely important to the plot occurred. Even though its important to stay focused on these kinds of chapters, be sure to add at least a few opening details fro context.
-please expand on the trainers that are challenging the gym, he really wasn't there as a character, more like a plot residue. An unused character is often times a bland one. You should have included the previous trainer (a girl if I'm correct) to give in a little more detail.
- I always thought that when the unnamed trainer said," I'm gonna, I'm gonna" he is going to say," Sue the roof off your gym and call humanitarian (proper term needed) services!"
:This distraction also tripped me on the part with Roxanne, Belle, and Ohm. I didn't have anything to work with, therefore didn't understand the chapter.
:This chapter goes through multiple scenes, but no proper transition between them. There is not even a dash line for division of chapters, I'm sorry but, come on. It would confuse the newer audience and make the chapter feel more sloppy than it is
:On the blood/gore debate:
I am totally fine with blood, I don't understand why people would complain about it. Blood is just realism applied to Pokémon. And I'm a realist myself.
:In all, I feel that this chapter didn't really live up to the standards I usually apply to this story, and it needs furthers development to properly introduce the concept of, " Cres and Applejack are messed up now" I would go to the lengths of reposting a newer version of the chapter when you have the time.
:Writers do mess up, we are human, but don't let that bring you down. Repost is needed to fix clutter but in all, Plot Development Ho! 6/10
Nice chapter, I would think that Matt might exercise a bit more caution with Cres in a battle due to a traumatic nightmare with Magnitude at the center of it. Assuming Cres told him about it at all.
I look forward to the reveal of the culprit
Intresting, i wonder what kind of pokemon can provoke nigthmares, or mabe isnot a Pokemon i am thinking in another thing maibe nigthmare moon or another villian sombra
5627030 its Darkrai, the moment I heard "nightmare" I knew it was Darkrai. The "flowing white mane, teal eyes, and red crest" description from earlier chapters kinda gave it away too