The two Pokemon made their way through the mist, the Ambipom walking as the Unown floated. The two could hear much, from dreams playing out to nightmares striking at the unwary. Nothing came out to either of them, though, but they still struggled to find their trainer in the mists.

Until they heard a voice.

“Again! Again!”

They both recognized the voice instantly; it was Hideo’s. They could hear it once more, saying the same words. They approached, the form becoming clearer to them - or rather, forms, both close to each other. One was decidedly human-shaped, but the other was different, yet familiar; a Beheeyem.

“I wanna hear you again, Elga!”

Once they were close enough, the details were easier to make out; it was Hideo and Elga together. But the former was different - he was smaller, younger. Not even a foot taller than the Beheeyem.

“Again!”

The Beheeyem complied, letting out his cry.

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/887432001102164049/904131528102133810/BeheeyemCry.mp3[/player]

Hideo giggled, clapping.

“I love how you sound, Elga!”

The Ambipom observed their interaction, confused. She’d never heard Elga actually speak - only communicate with Telepathy. And she knew Hideo wasn’t this small. She looked over at the Unown, who looked back and shook its head(?). They had both heard about this being some kind of interdream zone, but could that actually change what someone was?

Pom approached, Elga noticing her arrival. He looked away, but it was hard to disregard her tapping his head like that. He told her - telepathically - that he’d lost track of Hideo in the mists after his “parents” showed up, but ended up finding this Hideo.

He knew it wasn’t real. This wasn’t Hideo - his efforts to Telepathically communicate with it fell flat. But he still wanted to be with it, for just a while longer. He didn’t want this dream to end.

But they had more important things to do.

Pom gently separated the two, the illusionary Hideo reaching out to the Beheeyem.

“Wait! Don’t go!  You don’t have to go back! I’ll always love you, Elga!”

But before the dream could turn into a nightmare, a Hidden Power beam made a collision with the fake Hideo, its body losing detail and turning back into the mist it was made of. The Beheeyem reached out to it, but there was nothing he could do, once more going silent as it ended, offering only a small nutation as he'd follow along.

They had more important things to do anyway.

Summary: Unown and Ambipom find Hideo's Beheeyem, who's occupied with a fake Hideo.  The two break him from the illusion before going to find the real Hideo.

3 words done, can exit interdream zone

Cillie!

A name — sharp, sudden, his — to pull him from a nightmare.

He gasps as if he's been submerged in cold water and barely has a chance to register the eerie eye of an Unown targeting him before Tempest Quinn crashes into him and narrowly drags them both out of range of a killing blast.

They... they were trying to kill...

Temp is squeezing so tight that Gavin can barely breathe... or is it that he can't breathe for the panic that's seizing his chest?

Trembling hands seek purchase wherever they can find it — in Temp's clothes, his hair, the curve of his neck.

Not alone. Not alone.

"You're not alone," he breathes, because he sees the tears at the corner of Temp's eyes and realises he might need to hear it, too. "I'm here, love. I'm right here."

Star Soiree

Whoopsie Doodle I fell friggin' asleep

He was in the fog, but he was not inside it.

Tapu Lele tended to be somewhere between useless and actively detrimental whenever he needed any manner of assistance, but perhaps her dance with cait alfric's patron had left her in a particularly giving mood.

Regardless of her reasons, when the strange phenomena came, the effects were brushed aside by the Tapu of Life before her avatar could be caught up in them, a lazy wave of her hand seemingly reflecting back whatever was causing the commotion around him.

Still, the mist had eventually filled up the entirety of the observatory- and his friends had all seemingly vanished within the ethereal plane Dr. Holo had referred to as the 'Interdream Zone'.

For a while, he hadn't been sure if he should be worried. Once the screams began, however, the decision was easily made.

"We've gotta help!" Doug muttered, turning towards his matron. "Do you-"

She was not there anymore.

"... Fine. I'll figure it out myself!" He snapped at no one in particular, reaching back and yanking his hat atop his head.

The sharp motion threw the Unown hiding inside right out and in front of him, the '?'-shaped pokemon's eye dizzily spinning about inside its sole socket before it finally focused on the young man.

"Very appropriate." Doug said wryly, looking at the literal question mark. "I don't know what the heck's going on, either."

Somehow, the young Captain got the impression those words had somehow offended the Unown, whose sole eye squinted at him before its body... bobbed up and down sharply, as if scoffing at the claim.

"... Uh. I'm Sorry, what?" He said, blinking, before gawking as the Unown turned around and quickly floated away and into the mist. "Wha- Wait, wait! Do you know something?!"

He was already falling in line behind the Unown, running full tilt after it as it seemingly guided him through the fog.

Eventually, it came to a stop, prompting him to do so as well. The reason? More unown. A whole lot more of them.

"Oh gods." Doug gasped lowly as he stared at them all, suckling in a sharp breath. "... This building ain't gonna survive at this rate."

If they had detonated an explosion for one, what would they do for several?!

While he pondered this dumbass question, his unown stared, unblinking, as its several brethen whirled through the air rapidly, randomly aligning themselves in meaningless jargon.

"... The heck's that?"

As if to echo this, his little companion casually floated forth and joined the group of unown, aligning himself at the end.

"... Z... Uuuh... Think that's an A...? Umm... " He muttered, slowly making out each letter slowly. "Z-a-m-a-z-e-n-t-a...?"

"... Friggin' gibberi-!!!" There was a crack, a clap, and then a sudden rush of wind, before he was thrown on his ass by a sudden wave that swept outwards from the unown group, hurling each and every letter into a crack in space he hadn't realized was there, and hurling his interrogation sign right into his face.

"Ack! Dagnabbit!" He screamed in pain as he fell, completely missing a blast of hidden power that sailed harmlessly over his head.

---

TAG: @

It didn’t take long for the trio to find Hideo, struggling with the illusions the mists conjured up. They were able to free him from it, but the experience had been fairly exhausting for the boy. He’d been fairly confused that his Unown had shown up here too, but it was far from the first of his Pokemon to crash this party. And from what he could overhear, it wasn’t the only Unown here.

There was so much going on, and this night had already been a chaotic one. Hideo was pretty much done, and he didn’t know where everyone else went.

Well, he did notice one person: John Sullivan was rattling off some random letters off and trying to sound out a word Hideo didn’t recognize. Hideo didn’t even really feel like asking what he was doing or trying to help.

“Hey, Doug?” Hideo said, trying to get his attention, “If anyone asks, I’m gonna go back to my camp. I think I’ve had enough for tonight.” Chances were staying later would lead to some other weird event happening, and he didn’t have the energy for that.

“Oh, and have you seen my Gardevoir or my Ribombee? They gotta be here-” A quick Telepathic message interrupted him, followed by the headpat from his Gardevoir. “Oh, hey Dancer. You got Pinky with you?” A confirmation. Good. “Alright guys, let’s head back.”

He couldn’t hold back a yawn, his hand going up to his face. As he let it back down along his chest, he felt something there. A string? He followed it down until he felt something metal.

O

He didn’t know where that came from, but the letter “O” immediately entered his mind. It wasn't vague like with his Telepathic Pokemon either.

Hideo sighed. Something weird was already starting to happen. Best leave before it trapped him.

Summary: Hideo is found by his Pokemon and escorted out of the Interdream zone.  Exhausted, he tells John Sullivan he's leaving.  He accidentally touches the amulet he now has, but is to tired to think about it.