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As soon as Navy fell down a spiral of self-loathing, Andrea tried to console him just as her cellmate had done for her. “Hey… It’s okay. You did what you could, and they gave you no choice.” She said, kneeling down and placing a hand on the sheriff’s shoulder.
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Knowing that the uglies had been forced to vote eased some of her worries. Yes, people still acted selfishly, but under similar conditions, who’s to say she wouldn’t have done the same thing? Hell brought the worst out of even the best of men, and she was by no means perfect.
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The Elite Four member did mention that voting for the downfall of their fellow men had only been part of their so-called reward. “What happened after that?” Asked Andrea. “They said the ward that did the most work would get to go to a good place. Was that a lie too?”

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This collective hallucination was a much needed reprieve from their harsh reality. Here, Andrea felt free. Here, she did not feel cold. Here, she did not feel in pain. If prison was Hell, then surely this had to be Heaven, no?
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No. While bright and colorful, this unsullied utopia was not her version of paradise. She was, in essence, still caged. True freedom would be the ability to fly far away from anything that reminded her she was a slave, and return to Hoenn. That was her homeland.
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While in the dream world, she came across Josh Devlin, whose presence both soothed her and vexed her. She found Michael Navidson in one of the alleys, a husk of his former self. She also ran into people unfamiliar to her, and gained valuable information about the other wards.
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Then, a thought occurred to her: If every imprisoned soul shared this dream, including a bunch of amnesiac aliens, then surely she had to be here too.
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The ogre was the key. Others saw her as a monster, but thanks to the RKS Simulation, Andrea knew that she was just a lonely child craving acceptance and companionship. Perhaps the way to escape their hellish imprisonment would not be through hatred and aggression, but by showing unconditional love to a child that deserved it.
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The young woman cupped her hands around her mouth and imitated the ogre’s cry. “PON! PON! PON!” She continued to strain her vocal cords throughout the city block, hoping for an answer. “If you can hear me, please say something! I’m not mad at you for hurting me! I know you didn’t mean to! I just wanna be your friend! Remember my voice when you wake up!”

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Whether he was speaking the truth or a muddled version of it, Andrea chose to take the sheriff's word for it, because believing that their friends were unharmed was the option that let her sleep at night. A peaceful sleep was vital in order to maintain this dreamlike illusion.
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An ephemeral pause followed the reveal that Navy was part of the Ugly Ward--the snakes, as DESIREE BLOOMS called them. Unlike her fellow girlygang member, Andrea held no vitriol for the uglies. It would be unfair to hate someone without knowing the full picture.
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"Yeah, I've met Baki. How is she holding up?" Was the PokéManiac's first question. "I'm in Dummy, actually. I share a cell with Johanna Joy. Dunno what Melody's voice sounds like, but I did recognize Ettie, Desiree, and I think Isaac and Eris." She told him what she knew.
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Then came the question that was gnawing away at her. "W-when they..." The girl visibly shivered. "When they punished us and the Weakling Ward, they told us that you voted for us to get a worse punishment. That you thought we 'deserved' it. Is that true?"

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"They must've taken all our items when they put us in those stupid clothes." Andrea surmised after being told that Josh's Rainbow Feather was gone. The wardens would definitely never allow him to keep such a powerful artifact in his possession. Same thing probably went for items such as Sygna Suits and Mega Rings.
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"You think they might be keeping the feather and all our other stuff wherever they're keeping our Pokéballs?" The dragon enthusiast continued. It was a decent assumption that meant that if they found one thing they would also find the other. That was easier said than done, though.
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"There's another way..." The girl whispered, mimicking Josh's tone of voice. "The ogre. She's a prisoner just like us, and she's being controlled by a Toxic Chain--multiple of them, actually. If we can somehow free her, she might be as much help as Raikou would be."

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Hope was all they could cling to. Their wardens wanted to break them both physically and mentally, rendering them hollow husks that they could then reshape according to their wishes. But they underestimated Hoenn's tenacity, and that would be their undoing. "You're right. If they think we're dummies, then we'll just have to find a way to outsmart them!"
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Andrea was cold, hurt, and tired. Any escape plans would have to be delayed. Resting in this dingy hole in the wall seemed all but impossible, but they would have to make do. Except for one tiny hurdle...
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There was only one cot.
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"We can probably both fit, if we cuddle." The young woman observed, positioning herself on the cot so as to assume the role of big spoon. She then furrowed her brow, not that anyone could tell through her mask. "Don't even think about sleeping on the floor for my sake! I won't allow it!"
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Although there was a predisposition to scolding in her words, her tone was clearly a pleading one. She desperately needed the comfort of another human being, even if it was someone she barely knew. And if Johanna took her up on the offer, she would get herself a very comfy pillow to lean against, so they both benefited from that arrangement.

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"Your ward? Which ward is that?" Andrea asked curiously. She did not remember seeing him or FERNANDO SILPH in the Dummy Ward. In fact, most of the Dummy Ward seemed to be comprised of teenagers, which made the actions of their wardens all the more reprehensible. Not even Team Rocket would subject minors to that kind of torture.
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Her fist clenched in anger just thinking about it. Getting even was just as important as getting out. The mention of her two most beloved Pokémon dispelled those violent intrusive thoughts. "Jalapeño is with my parents... at least I think he is. He wasn't in my party before any of this happened."
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That was the story she was going with until proven wrong. She was mortified by the possibility that those monsters could lay their filthy hands on her son. "As for Chomper, I saw him in a tube much like that one." She added, pointing at the test tube containing a sleeping Hattori. "What's up with those anyway?"

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“N-Navy?!” The young woman exclaimed in shock as she recognized the scruffy beard and grizzled visage that went with it. To think that not even the higher-ups were safe from the never-rot’s clutches… It was very disconcerting.
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“Don’t tell me they got the Elite Four too! Did they also get MATIAS SILPH?” That would only be the second worst thing to happen to Matias that month, if true. How had those wacky retainers even managed to capture Hoenn’s finest?
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Then came another, even bleaker realization. “H-how many people did they get exactly?” Andrea muttered with dread. “Is… is there anyone out there looking for us?”

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“What are we gonna do?” The girl looked pleadingly at him like he was some kind of all-knowing problem solver. “I tried stealing one of the crystals. I figured if we could get enough of them, we could make a legendary Pokémon appear just like in Area Zero. But the monkey found out, and… he killed Meatloaf.”
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The memory of the Salamence’s Pokéball being crushed filled her with sadness and regret. She wanted so desperately to believe it was just a bad dream, and that she would soon wake up at home on her cozy bed, but she knew that was not the case. If they wanted to ever see home again, they needed to do something.
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A sudden surge of inspiration hit her. “What about Raikou? Can’t you summon him and have him get us outta here?” She knew that Josh’s bond with the ashen beast was relatively new, but it was the only shred of hope out of a dwindling pool of options.

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Searching for allies in the streets of this imaginary metropolis proved rather difficult. As expected of a dream, the rules were pretty inconsistent. Some people manifested with their masks still on, while others--like Andrea--did not.
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Although she was convinced that everyone trapped in the penitentiary of prisms had somehow ended up in this strange realm, finding them was like finding a needle in a haystack. Except the haystack were droves of Megalopolans seemingly going about their daily lives like their civilization had never collapsed.
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Eventually, she found a figure lying motionless in an alley like some kind of bum. The figure was hunched over, making them hard to identify at first glance. “Hello…” Andrea approached cautiously. “Do we know each other? Are you in the Dummy Ward, the Weakling Ward, or…”

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