17 ♪

[celebrity_commentator]

The Dreams

When Rise initially falls asleep, she sees nothing amiss, although the edges of her dreamscape have a hazy fuzziness about them as part of her mind tries to figure out why the cloying fog lately has been bothering her so much. Still, her "normal" dreams consist of a strange, shifting landscape that appears to be in the stars, high above the ground and looking down on it. There's a constant murmur, as of a huge crowd, but Rise initially pays it no mind, leaping among strange rainbow-colored floating islands without a care in the world, changing from second to second from singing out bubbles of pure color to cooking tofu with her grandmother to defeating all comers in some strange Pokémon Battle/Contest hybrid while shirtless versions of every guy she knows cheer her on.

You know, normal dream stuff.

Toyo and Himiko have come along with her into the dream - Rise's subconscious thinks they're a normal part of the landscape, but the Pokémon's dream selves are actually there. They are a little more lucid and are getting steadily more concerned about that buzzing crowd...

Before she wakes up, but a long amount of subjective dream-time later, something is causing the previous pleasant cacophony to warp and change. The floating islands become claustrophobic and close off, trapping Rise in a small space behind copies of Union's walls. The murmur of voices echoes infinitely louder, and words start to come through.

Pretty.

Useless.

You have a responsibility to your

fans

family

What are you doing with your life?

Rise is shaken out of her previous revelry and is suddenly frightened...and feels a lot smaller. Huge versions of her friends - Haruka and Michiru, Asemu, Chie, anyone she's seen kick ass in a fight - have statuesque battles over her head with all manner of mean and nasty Pokémon, even Heatran, which all vanish in puffs of smoke.

Cheer them on, Risette. It's not like you can fight for yourself.

"Whoever you are, cut it out!" Rise shouts into the Void, although she suddenly finds herself in a short-skirted cheerleader costume and staring at a crowd of faceless people bowing down to a giant golden image of herself.

Weren't you so much better off when you were just a pretty piece of furniture? At least you knew what you were doing with your life.

"I'm tired of this...," Rise says, as the faceless crowds dissolve into mist and the statue turns into sand.

Look, even now, you need someone to rescue you. What a perfect damsel in distress...


Meanwhile, something has sent Himiko and Toyo out of Rise's dreamscape. They look at each other, nod, and wander out into neutral territory to find help.

Comments

[worldmother]

With a hand hovering over the hilt of her rapier, Elly, accompanied by a floating Munna, seemed tense. Any noises she heard made her immediately turn and unsheathe her weapon, only to find that, once again, the woods had been playing tricks on her. She did not seem to notice Himiko or Toyo yet, however.

[celebrity_commentator]

[Elly will receive a psychic message pleading for assistance, sadly, in the language of Gardevoirs and not anything she can actually understand. It does come with a projected calming feeling, though.]

[There's also a Blissey waving a white handkerchief in her direction. Can't be too careful around people armed with swords.]

[worldmother]

[Elly is neither a psychic type, nor does she have any ability to understand Pokemon, so Himiko's message gets lost in translation. The feeling does come across, but she doesn't quite add two and two together.

The Blissey, however, gets her attention, and Elly sheaths her sword, slowly walking toward her.]

What's a Blissey doing here..?

[celebrity_commentator]

[Both Toyo and Himiko step out, and the latter tries to explain the situation again. Toyo shakes her head, though, and instead holds up a fin in a universally-recognized gesture, then taps it against her other fin twice.]

[One word. Two syllables.]

[worldmother]

Charades? Okay, ah...

[Elly looks a bit confused.]

[celebrity_commentator]

[First syllable...]

[Himiko facefins and just reaches out to take Elly's hand. Toyo conveying anything through anything but song and dance will take forever.]

[worldmother]

[You're leaving her hanging, Toyo.

Elly takes Himiko's hand. Lead the way!]

[second_destiny]

[Asemu is wandering around on his own right now, no particular goal in mind other than the berry tree in front of him. He activates a beam dagger in his right hand, hops up, and slices down a few berries. He pops one in his mouth before he notices the Pokémon.]

Eh? Wht're you gus dng hre?

[Asemu, swallow before you speak.]

[celebrity_commentator]

[Okay, you they know. Both Pokémon run up to Asemu - Toyo waving her arms emphatically and Himiko attempting to explain the situation before remembering Asemu very specifically doesn't do psychic things.]

[They end up waving him back in the direction of Rise's dream. If anyone can sort out their Partner's issues it's either this guy or a professional therapist.]

[second_destiny]

Eh?

[Asemu swallows the berry. It's really obvious that they want him to follow. Therefore, follow he does. He's not sure what to expect, but if they belong to who he thinks they do, then it's definitely important.]

[celebrity_commentator]

[The two pink Pokémon drag Asemu back into Rise's dreamscape, which is full of what appear from the outside to be tall cylindrical buildings floating high in the air, with a murmur of strange voices permeating the background.]

[Rise's voice cuts through the static, apparently coming from nowhere.]

I'm not just going to call for help again, that's stupid! I don't think you can even hurt me!

[Images flash through the sky - Asemu, Commander Ogami, Lucas, and Jinxie smiting a horde of Grimer in the Old City, the Divine Defense Force taking out raiders, Asemu flying up to Heatran. In every image, Rise cries and cowers in the corner, waiting to be rescued.]

[Another voice, on careful listening also Rise's, replies.]

People will come for you anyway. It's your role and you have to play it. Don't you want them to love you?

[The background image shifts back to the huge, golden, immobile statue of Rise. Meanwhile, the humming sound of voices gets louder and...happier? Whatever they are, they're satisfied with something.]

[second_destiny]

[Upon arriving, Asemu watches and listens quietly. However, as he does, a familiar emotion surfaces within him.

Anger.

He's convinced at this point that this is Rise's self-doubt, and right now, it looms before him like a Pokémon that needs to be defeated. In fact, he can see the rampaging Medicham before his eyes all over again.]

HOLD IT!

[Asemu yells at the top of his lungs. He wants to draw attention on himself for now, as he is going to not only take the aggro but turn it on its head. That's his intention.]

[celebrity_commentator]

[It certainly gets something's attention. Himiko and Toyo drop into battle stances. They can't see anything, but something's out there...]

[Himiko used Psychic!]

[No effect!]

[Toyo used Hyper Voice!]

[No effect!]

[?????? used Nasty Plot!]

[The Pokémon look at each other worriedly...]

Hey, your boyfriend's here to rescue you now!

H-he's not my boyfriend!

Only because he's an idiot, let's be real here.

[actsmagnificent]

Natto and Haruka have found themselves in neutral territory as well, at least for the moment; Haruka tries summoning other Pokémon and nothing works. Great.

Motion to the right makes her turn her head, Gust swirling ready to fire in one palm. ] Who's -

[ Oh, it's. Huh. Haruka lowers her hand. ] You're....Rise's Pokémon, right? What happened?

Vanny. [ Natto is trying to be brave, but he's worried! Where is everyone? He doesn't want his friends to be hurt! ]

[celebrity_commentator]

[Himiko concentrates solemnly.]

Something weird is going on.

[Toyo bobbles in agreement. Natto can understand them, and hopefully Haruka will get the general idea from body languate.]

I think we might all be dreaming, and Partner's definitely having a nightmare.

[actsmagnificent]

Leavanny vanny. [ That does sound serious! Natto relays the information to his Trainer, who nods. Shared dreaming is a good hypothesis, but the question is...what do they do about it? ]

Can you take us there?

[ Natto looks even more worried now. He doesn't like the idea of entering a nightmare....but Rise is always so nice to him, and took good care of the clothes he lent her when she was in that boy's body. This is his chance to repay her.

He will be strong. ]

[celebrity_commentator]

[The duo nod, and the intent to go there is enough to get everyone back in the dreamscape, currently filled with images of a bright, flashy stage with no one on it. Or...something on it that looks like an absence of a thing. It's painful to look at when it's not your own subconscious. Two very Rise-like voices echo in the air.]

Did anyone even notice when you quit? You were interchangeable anyway, and you knew it. If anything, you got proven right!

If you congratulate me, I'm gonna find some way to hit you.

[actsmagnificent]

Vanny! [ Whoa, this is weird! Is Rise hiding behind a curtain somewhere? That's a really good special effect....

..that's all it is, right? Natto gulps. He'd rather not look at whatever's on the stage.

Haruka is struggling, too - but she's trying to focus on it anyway. ] Rise?

[celebrity_commentator]

[Rise's here somewhere. Maybe in one of those strange floating walled-in sections. Who knows.]

Rise can't come to the Warp Band right now. She's drowning her sorrows in denial.

[Oh look, the background image changes to Haruka and Michiru macking about on stage.]

Well Rise, you're a terrible superhero, but at least you're a better actress than the great Haruka Tenoh. Not that anyone cares. Including her.

[footprints_on_your_face]

[Hey, those Pokemon look familiar...]

Himiko? Toyo? What's going on? Where's Rise?

[celebrity_commentator]

[They look at each other, wondering why humans who don't understand Pokémon keep asking them non-yes-or-no questions.]

[Rather than trying to explain this time, they just point/float in the direction of Rise's dreamscape.]

[footprints_on_your_face]

Okay... take me there!

[celebrity_commentator]

[By the time Chie reaches the dreamscape, things have gotten a bit abstract, with the images imposed on the starry sky looking like a human pyramid of uncountable faceless Rises.]

Okay, uh...I don't even know where you're going with this one.

That's because you're not very smart, either.

[footprints_on_your_face]

Whoa... what the heck is going on in here?

[celebrity_commentator]

I don't know...none of this makes any sense!

[Rise's voice is muffled, but audible. It's her dream, after all.]

I think there might be a Pokémon around, though. Maybe it's doing something weird?

That's...hey, wait, did you just do something useful?