-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Nightmare World

My vision had gone dark and within seconds I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face. I knew it was still there, I could still feel my body, but I was completely blinded to anything around me. I could still sense Dragonite to my side, the orange scaled pokemon quiet in the darkness.

Then, in an instant, our surroundings were visible again. We were clearly no longer in Canalave City, now in the wilderness, somewhere completely unknown to us. The trees were tall and stretched thin, their dark, grey leaves gathered in a heap underneath. I looked down, seeing a faint rocky path beneath our feet. Trees were lined up to our left and right, meaning we could only move forward or backward.

I thought back a few seconds, remembering that we were walking toward the inn's open door, but we never actually stepped foot into the inn. Obviously, we had been moved somewhere else, yet there didn't seem to be a reasonable explanation for this.

Dragonite grunted, poking my arm to get my attention. I looked up to her, seeing that she was staring ahead, fixated on whatever was in the distance. A thin mist began to slowly rise from the ground as the featureless grey sky started to darken.

"Aaron, come. Set me free."

The same voice called out to me. My body tensed as I shuffled closer to Dragonite who was still staring out in front of us. I could feel something in the distance, but I couldn't understand what I was looking at.

There was a flash of lightning overhead as an image of that same creepy, old man flickered in front of us. Neither Dragonite or I flinched, ready to deal with anything that came our way. As the image faded, the mist started to thicken. The image of the old man faded, reappearing much closer to us.

"You will set me free Aaron. Your life depends on it."

Another flash of lightning and the image of the old man had been completely replaced by a faint  image of a pokemon. I couldn't make it out clearly, but from what I could see, the creature was coloured pitch black, its limbs thin as it floated in the air quietly. I recognised the pokemon from all sorts of old stories that mothers would tell their naughty children.

Darkrai floated in the air, watching our every move.

Dragonite had seen the pokemon too, taking a defensive stance in front of me. She let out a quiet grunt, understanding the situation.

Once again, the image flickered, replaced by the old man. As the two images began to flicker in each other's places, I know understood that this pokemon must have lead Dragonite and I to this inn, using the old man to lure us in to his nightmare world.

"Aaron! Wake up!"

Just as I was about to call out to Dragonite, a familiar voice rang in my ears. The orange scaled pokemon turned to face me, having heard the voice too. Once more, the voice called out to us, now sounding more familiar.

As the voice echoed in the skies, I finally remembered who was calling out to me. Elaine must have found us sleeping and is now trying to wake us up. I quickly looked to my partner, who was as confused as I was. We were already awake in this world so it wasn't going to be easy to leave. My mind raced to think of an escape plan, while Darkrai kept his attention on me.

Before I could think of anything, the nightmare pokemon faded into the air, disappearing. The mist started to dissipate and the skies were starting to brighten overhead. Dragonite and i were still on our guard, careful if the pokemon returned.

We looked around and something had caught my eye. A few feet ahead of us, there was something laying on the ground. It glinted in the darkness, even though there was no source of light. Cautiously, I picked it up, seeing that it was a pitch black feather. It gave off a dreadful aura but I could see that is was safe to hold.

Dragonite had seen that I found something and as she is naturally curious, she leaned over my shoulder. At first, she was tense, feeling the aura that the feather was giving off. We exchanged looks before the two of us placed a hand each on the feather.

In that instant, everything became a blur before fading to black. I could feel my body stirring in the darkness and as my eyes adjusted and the surroundings brightened, I could see that I was lying down in a bed. I recognised the style of the room, seeing that I was in the city's pokemon center.

Slowly, I removed the bed covers, standing to my feet. The moment I put all of my weight onto my feet, I could feel my balance slipping. I tried my best to stay on my feet but soon enough, I had fallen back onto the bed.

"What the-"

A voice spoke out from through the doorway. There were some quick, light footsteps and no more than five seconds later, Elaine was stood in the room. She looked concerned for half a second before she folded her arms across her chest. Her expression changed and I could see that she wasn't the happiest with me, and I understood why.

"What was that about Aaron? Something could have happened to you!"

I had to snap at myself for smiling. Elaine's concern was adorable and I couldn't help but react in that way. "Hey, hey, I would have been fine. But you did save me back there."

Something stirred to my right and as I turned to see what it was, I could see Dragonite laying on her back, peacefully sleeping. She quickly woke up when I prodded her arm and it didn't seem like she remembered what had just happened. I knew very little about the dream and nightmare worlds so there wasn't anything I could think of to explain this.

"What exactly happened to you Aaron? Nurse Joy said that some people had found you and Dragonite asleep behind the pokemon center."

"Wait what? I was by the- oh. We need to find the professor, I've got a lot to ask him."

"By the where? Aaron, you might be the Champion, and maybe even the strongest trainer in the world but even you aren't invincible when you're asleep." Elaine spoke her mind as I sat on the bed quietly. I empathised with what she was saying and in truth, I agreed with her.

Dragonite stood back up to her feet, picking up the pokemon egg. It was still inside the incubator and was somehow undamaged. I knew pokemon eggs were valuable and I had heard stories of people stealing eggs from trainers and wild pokemon alike, just for the money.

"I called the professor just now. He said he'll meet us in Jubilife tomorrow so we should get going while the sun's still up." Elaine spoke with a more serious tone, understanding the importance of our mission.

As I stood up to my feet, I could tell that I still wasn't at hundred percent. My balance was off and I was finding it difficult to even leave the room unassisted. Elaine saw this and asked if I was alright to continue. I couldn't afford to pause the mission for this so I told her that we would leave Canalave City today.

"Arcanine, I'm going to need your help."

The legendary pokemon emerged from his pokeball, letting out a short bark. He looked into my eyes for a moment, reading my mind. He started to wag his tail gently as he lowered his body to allow me onto his back. Before climbing atop the fire pokemon, I turned to Elaine, extending my hand out.

Gladly, she accepted the offer, sitting atop Arcanine as I took my seat behind her. Initially, the legendary pokemon started jogging, just until Canalave was out of sight. Now that the sun had set, the four of us were alone on the empty path.

Arcanine was walking alongside Dragonite who was still taking care of the egg. The two had become engrossed in their own conversation, allowing Elaine and I to talk privately.

"Hey Aaron, you never did tell me how you even fell asleep."

At that, I remembered the pitch black feather. When I had woken up, I found it laying beside me on the counter top. I knew didn't know much about this feather, but whenever I concentrated on it, I could feel Darkrai's now familiar aura ever so faintly tied to it.

"I don't know either. One minute Dragonite and I were standing in front of the inn Nurse Joy told us about, and the next we were asleep."

"Wow, I guess there wasn't much you could do then. But at least it's behind us now, we won't see that creepy old dude again."

I held my tongue. When Elaine spoke, I realised that I couldn't tell her about what I had seen in the dream world. As far as she was concerned, we left that old man in Canalave City but I knew that it wasn't the truth.