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The warm sun rose over the sea and burned away the mist that enshrouded Hulbury. Jack and Watts finished their breakfast and headed back home, smiling at a Stakataka on the high street and waving to a Guzzlord reading the newspaper in the town square. When they reached their cottage, Jack pushed open the door cautiously but the home remained dark except for the blinking light of the answering machine indicating a message was waiting for them. We don't need to listen to it. It was always the same.[break][break]

Jack approached the narrow table in the hallway where the answering machine sat, the gilt-framed mirror over the table reflecting the pudgy face of a child. Watts sat patiently beside him, the soft panting of the Yamper's breath a reassurance in the quiet house. Jack reached out and pressed the button to start the message, listening to the pre-recorded greeting: "Hello, you've reached the Wainwrights. We're unavailable right now. Please leave a message after the tone." Then came the messages. We talked more over that answering machine than we did at the dinner table.[break][break]

BEEP. "Hi honey. I'm working late so I'm just going to stay in Motostoke tonight. Your father won't be back from his business trip until tomorrow evening, so you'll need to get yourself off to school."[break]
BEEP. "Hi Jack, I just landed a new account at work so I'll be here late again and so will your father. There's some money on the counter for dinner if you want takeaway."[break][break]

Jack's reflection in the mirror grew taller with each message, seeming to sprout like a weed in a time-lapse video. The face looking back at him remained pudgy, even as he grew upward and his shoulders broadened.[break][break]

BEEP. "Hey son, big news. I got that promotion at work! Your mother and I are staying in Motostoke tonight to celebrate but there should be leftovers in the fridge for you."[break]
BEEP. "Jack honey, the school called today about you getting in another fight. You know I can't leave work just because you've gotten yourself into trouble again, and your father won't be back from Unova until next Saturday. Tell your teacher not to call me at work."[break][break]

The answering machine light continued to blink scarlet in the dark hallway even as the boy in the mirror grew into a lean and lanky teenager with unruly hair. A Boltund now appeared in the mirror, standing on his hind legs with his forepaws on the narrow table.[break][break]

BEEP. "Hi honey, congratulations on winning your writing contest. Your father and I are very proud of you! I'm sorry that we'll miss the award ceremony but we already have meetings set up with clients all week in Wyndon. I'm sure Watts would love to go with you, though."[break]
BEEP. "Jack, sorry for missing your call earlier; I was in an important meeting. That's great to hear about your acceptance to Uni at Hammerlocke! Call me back and let me know when orientation is and I'll see if I have an opening on my calendar. If not, Watts can go with you."[break][break]

The reflection in the mirror had become a young man with kind eyes next to a Boltund that sparked with latent energy. Thanks for always being my family, Watts.

NOTES

✦ Dream Drop Distance Theme: Family[break]
✦ Bewitching Brews: Ultra Beasts[break]
✦ Sleep Score: 200 + 200 = 400[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Jack turned away from the mirror, giving Watts a pat on the head as the indicator light on the answering machine finally turned off. Light had begun to filter into the dimly lit hallway as Jack turned toward the front door with Watts in tow. Opening the door, he stepped out and into a Galarian rail car.[break][break]

"This is a Northern Line Service train to Wyndon Station, calling at Hammerlocke, Route 10, and Wyndon Station. This train has seven carriages. Please have your tickets and railcards ready. Mind the closing doors." Jack took a seat in the empty train car as the announcement played through the overhead speakers in a tinny voice. As the train began to chug slowly away from the station, a door at one end of the carriage opened to admit a food trolley pushed by a wizened old crone. Jack glanced at the selection of rage candy bars but the trolley passed without him purchasing anything. I lost all that weight and suddenly I was too good for candy off the trolly.[break][break]

Watts glanced up as he and Jack spotted a faceless woman enter from another carriage. He felt a sense of familiarity as she headed toward him down the aisle. Emily. We hooked up that first week of uni. Delicate features appeared on the woman's face as she passed to sit further back in the train car.[break][break]

The door at the end of the carriage opened again and another faceless woman entered. Maeve. We slept with her at the end of term party third year. Freckles and angular features filled in to the woman's face as she took a seat near one of the doors.[break][break]

A man and a woman entered from elsewhere on the train, the blank spots where there eyes should be scanning for seats. Saoirse, Emily's friend we hooked up with our second year at uni. Her facial features appeared, her striking emerald eyes gazing placidly out the window. And Finn, Saoirse's brother we dated on and off during third year. Handsome features and the same striking green eyes appeared on the man as he sat next to his sister.[break][break]

On and on it went, more passengers entering the carriage and taking a seat. Mostly women, but some men. Mostly with names and faces but some without.[break][break]

"Quite the roster our man Jack has," said a voice on his left. Jack turned to the red-headed woman wearing an eye patch seated next to him, but Aurelie Lefevre was looking past him to the passenger seated to his right.[break][break]

"I guess the travel blog isn't the only thing he is known for getting around on," replied Xiura Balfaltin mirthfully from the seat on his right. Watts looked between the two women, his tongue lolling out happily.[break][break]

They sat in silence as the train trundled along the track, Jack and his assembled lovers shifting and swaying with the rocking of the train until it began to slow. Jack, Watts, and his two seatmates stood and headed for the doors as the train rolled to a stop while the tinny voice on the speakers announced, "Now arriving at Hammerlocke. Please collect all your belongings before exiting the train. Mind the gap."

NOTES

✦ Dream Drop Distance Theme: Love[break]
✦ Bewitching Brews: rage candy bars[break]
✦ Sleep Score: 400 + 200 = 600[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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The doors of the train slid open smoothly and Jack stepped from the carriage and into his dormitory at the University of Hammerlocke. Watts sprinted immediately to the narrow bed, curling up and falling asleep in the warm beams of sunlight coming through the window. Instead of heading for the bed, Jack hung his school bag on a peg and sat at his desk, pulling out a writing pad and fountain pen from the drawer as a Litwick glowed softly against the burnished wood.[break][break]

Pressing the tip of his tongue between his teeth, Jack began to write and words trickled out of him in a steady stream. When the notebook page had filled, the words flowed from the paper and onto the desk. Like an endless ribbon, they curled across the wood of the desk until they dripped onto the floor in opalescent runnels. Watts lifted his head from the bed, looking at the swirling ribbons of ink with interest. A rising tide of ink filled the room, pushing up the walls until the pressure of the words pushed the window open.[break][break]

Through the open window, the ribbons of ink were rapidly pulled out into the world like the anchor chain of a ship. Unlike an anchor chain, instead of pulling down into the city the ribbons flowed up into the air in undulating waves that grew into a broad streamer that fluttered across the sky. Vaulting from the window sill, Jack landed on the sky-path of ink with Watts closed behind. The liquid words swirled around his feet in nacreous waves, their current pulling him into the sky on oil-slick patterns of colour.[break][break]

The medieval walls of Hammerlocke disappeared below as the surging strip of ink carried him forward until the island of Galar was receding behind him and the world opened up ahead. Jack held the fountain pen firmly in his hand as his words carried him beyond the horizon.

NOTES

✦ Dream Drop Distance Theme: Aspirations[break]
✦ Bewitching Brews: fire-type[break]
✦ Sleep Score: 600 + 200 = 800[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Jack soared through the sky and plunged into the side of a billowing cumulus cloud. The damp mist enveloped him, obscuring his vision as it flowed around him. When the cloud passed and the brilliant azure sky returned, Jack gazed out at it from the window of his airplane seat. Jack turned and reached for the tray table in front of him, grabbing a rage candy bar and opening it for Watts. The Boltund sat comfortably next to him, taking advantage of the wide business class seat. Jack glanced back out the window as the chime sounded to indicate they were descending below 10,000 feet and the overhead announcement clicked on.[break][break]

"Valued passengers, we have begun our descent into Saffron City." the pilot announced, as a passing cloud transformed the window view into the eastern coast of Kanto.[break][break]

The chime sounded again as the airplane passed through another cloud. "Please turn off all portable electronic devices and stow them until we have arrived at the gate." The cloud passed and the mountains of Johto passed below.[break][break]

Another chime preceeded another announcement. "In preparation for arrival in Jubilife City, be certain your seat back is upright and your seatbelt is fastened." The view from the window transformed again, with Mount Coronet looming over Sinnoh.[break][break]

The chime resounded through the plane as the announcement clicked on in a burst of static. "Please secure your carry-on items..." as the view transformed to the rolling plains of central Kalos, "...stow your tray table..." with the dreamlike islands of Alola nestled in the waves below, "and pass any remaining service items to the flight attendants as the come through the cabin..." while the Great Crater of Paldea yawned below the airplane, cloaked in mist. The sprawling expanse of Castelia City scrolled by as the pilot ended with, "Thank you."[break][break]

The plane touched down with a soft bump as the pilot announced "Let us be the first to welcome you to Mauville City. The local time is 9:26 PM Hoenn Standard Time. Please stay seated until we arrive at the gate." As the plane rolled to a stop and the seatbelt sign turned off with another chime, Jack stood up wearily. Grabbing his large backpack from the overhead bin, he could feel the weight of his travels as he slipped it onto his shoulders and headed for the jet bridge. Watts stretched and yawned as he followed Jack from the plane.[break][break]

The hustle and bustle of the terminal quieted as Jack stepped from the jet bridge and into the terminal area. The world seemed to blur around him, the only thing left in focus was a group of people waiting near the gate.[break][break]

Beau Fontaine with his big muscles and kind smile.[break]
Zev Harcourt standing with relaxed confidence near Neffatari Nzingha while she read a scientific journal.[break]
Aurelie Lefevre holding hands with Xiura Balfaltin.[break]
Naomi Sato with a laugh on her lips and a beer in her hand.[break][break]

The weariness of his long journeys faded away as Jack stepped forward toward his friends.

NOTES

✦ Dream Drop Distance Theme: Reunions[break]
✦ Bewitching Brews: rage candy bar[break]
✦ Sleep Score: 800 + 200 = 999[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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[break][break]

The bestial howl seemed to echo in the decrepit throne room as pokemon, including Rayth, heeded the call and disappeared. A twang of unease struck Jack as his pokemon abandoned him, though the Snubbull King, still standing on his throne handed out a boon to the assembled characters. A small dialogue box appeared, hovering in the space in front of him:[break][break]

[break][break]

Jack closed the inventory pop-up, glancing with unease at the countdown ticking down over the king's head. With his pokemon having fled and the pressure of time heavy on him, he took solace in browsing the menu. Beyond the singular dream ball in his inventory, the only other menu option he found was an ability menu that he entered without hesitation. Another informational box appeared:[break][break]

[break][break]

Closing out of the menu, Jack glanced back toward the strange countdown clock and headed for the castle exit, eventually making his way into the strange forest beyond. The glitchy trees and jagged, pixilated tears made Jack wonder if there was an issue with the game code or if it had been intentionally designed as a twisted distortion world. An enraged cry interrupted his examination of the surroundings as an Annihilape charged him, the shadow pokemon's fists flying. Almost without thinking, Jack activated his ability hovering up and out of punching range before his attacker could reach him. He attempted to hover forward through the trees but, true to the ability menu's instructions, he was locked into vertical motion only once he was off the ground.[break][break]

With an aggressive pokemon below, Jack hovered further upward to rise above the trees. From his vantage point, he could see other players moving around through breaks in the trees as rifts opened sporadically to expel more shadow pokemon. He spun slowly in place, scanning the surroundings until he caught sight of Rayth's characteristic red flames. Glancing below, it seemed that the Annihilape had grown bored and left in search of other prey so he hovered downward until he reached ground level again. Immediately, Jack sped off in the direction where he had seen his Chandelure emerge as both hope and trepidation swirled in his mind.[break][break]

Barreling into a clearing, he found his Chandelure quicker than he expected. Blasts of red flames shot toward him and he strafed quickly to the side, wishing he had any other abilities beyond just hovering. Grasping for a plan, Jack dodged a shadowball before defaulting to the only thing he had in his menu: the dream ball. The strange pokeball flew toward Rayth before enveloping her in a flash of light. It hovered in the air where the Chandelure had been, rocking once, twice, three times. As it clicked shut the world around him froze and Jack found himself unable to move. Quickly, another dialogue box appeared:[break][break]

[break][break]

He dithered for a moment, uncertainty wracking him as it always did when he was forced to make a choice in a game. One path opened, another closed, and he wished he had some strategy guide that would help with the optimal choice or reveal which path led to the better story. But this was all new, so he went with his gut and confirmed his choice. Instantly, the game resumed around him as he found the Dream Ball back in his possession. His avatar had changed, now including a crimson flame atop his head and four smaller red flames dancing around him.[break][break]

Awesome.[break][break]

As the cries of other shadow pokemon reverberated in the forest, Jack hovered upward to scout ahead before landing and taking a relatively safe path back to the castle.

NOTES

✦ Birth By Sleep: Scenario 1[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Jack received the quest to enter a dungeon and bring an end to the source of the dangerous creatures plaguing the kingdom with excitement. Now the game is getting good! He took the proffered item and tucked it into his inventory before heading back out to the castle as the time began counting down again.[break][break]

[break][break]

Walking down a corridor he stepped into an out of the way room to get his bearings but found it to be an exact replica of his dorm at uni, down to the Litwick on the desk. A white circle indicating the start of the dungeon glowed beneath the window so Jack rushed directly there
and entered the automated party finder, waiting patiently as he was matched with a dungeon partner.[break][break]

A chime sounded as the window popped open as another player appeared next to him in flowing white robes, looking strikingly like Naomi Sato. "Hey!" Jack greeting his dungeon partner as he climbed onto the window ledge through the open window. A long flowing ribbon of ink painted itself across the sky ahead of him, curling and swooping above the castle before heading into the clouds. Just like in my dream.[break][break]

Jack offered a hand to help his dungeon partner through the window and she gave him a kind smile in return. Together they ran down the skyway of ink, its liquid appearing belying a solid texture that's surface shimmered with an opalescent glow. Before long, three Pikipek swooped down to attack them and Jack was quick to crack open his battle card, looking for a weapon that would help them fight off the pokemon - he was hoping for daggers.[break][break]



"Well this doesn't seem helpful," Jack said to his partner as she laughed good-naturedly. Jack equipped the boots but then the Pikipek began to attack, their sharp beaks quickly dipping into his life total.[break][break]

"Ouch, shit. Looks like this game is for pokemon battles, not for player characters," Jack realized as he activated the special pokeball that held Chandelure. At the same time, his dungeon partner released a pokemon resembling a K-shaped glyph. Okay, that has to be Nomi! I wonder if she knows it is me.[break][break]

Jack and Nomi ran on and on, following the spiraling path of ink that led up and over clouds, climbing high into the sky as all of Galar spread out below them on their ascent. Each battle became more difficult and soon Nomi's pokemon was washing them with sparking healing moves during the battle to keep them from being knocked out. Eventually a floating circular platform came into view ahead and Jack knew from enough gaming experience that they would soon be facing the dungeon boss. As they stepped forward, the pathway disappeared beneath them. Nomi's avatar began to fall but the heavy-duty boots glittered as Jack remained standing. Jack reached out and grabbed her avatar and with the help of her pokemon and his Chandelure, pulled her back up to the path.[break][break]

They continued forward more carefully after that but encountered no more traps on their way to the arena. In short order they reached the boss area but found it empty. As they looked around, sharp feathers began to spear down at them, sending both trainers and their pokemon dodging back and forth across the platform. Activating the scope lens, Jack scanned the sky to find a dynamax Corviknight raining blade birds down upon them. "There!" he shouted, pointing out their foe to Nomi and the pokemon. Both pokemon fired off a blast of energy and the Corviknight descended to the arena.[break][break]

Jack and Nomi fought valiantly, their pokemon matching the dynamax Corviknight's energy, dodging strikes and helping one another before going on their own offensive. Soon the Corviknight felt, dissolving away to leave only a gleaming treasure chest behind. The two trainers opened it at the same time and Jack received Key Item: Fountain Pen before the chest faded away as well. Jack cheered and did a celebratory dance while waiting for the dungeon to end, but time ticked on with nothing happening. As he was about to ask Nomi what they should do, the far end of the battle arena began to fall away, the flooring plummeting into the sky below them.[break][break]

At once, the two trainers and their pokemon turned to run, sprinting back out onto the ribbon of ink that led back downward but that too began to disintegrate behind them at a faster pace than they could run. "Hold on," Jack shouted as he grabbed onto Nomi and activated the escape rope in his inventory. Their environment seemed to warp around them into darkness until a golden DUNGEON COMPLETE dialogue appeared before Jack found himself back at the castle, alone.[break][break]

"Thanks for the fun dungeon run," Jack said, though he knew the party had already dissolved and no one could hear him.

NOTES

✦ Birth By Sleep: Scenario 2[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Destroy the glitchy disturbance in the system? It seemed like your standard game quest, so Jack leapt right into the action. He headed back outside the castle walls to where he remembered the previous spatial disturbances spawning and was quick to find one that Rayth was immediately drawn to.[break][break]

"This must be it, huh?" Jack said to the Chandelure as he attempted to enter the disturbance to no avail. "Oh right, the key," he said, as he remembered the quest instructions. Activating the Key Item: Fountain Pen from his inventory, the disturbance grew and warped around them until their location changed and Jack found himself shocked.[break][break]

He thought it was a cool touch that the game dungeon had used his dream about the pathway of ink but now that he was standing in his childhood memory of Hulbury, he was troubled.[break][break]

"We're supposed to destroy this?" Jack asked his pokemon, though he already knew the answer. Instead Rayth's crimson flames suddenly grew in intensity to roaring flamethrowers that shot into the sky overhead. As if that had been a signal, the ultra beast townspeople rushed toward them. Jack looked around in confusion until a Kartana slashed into him. The beast would have surely beheaded him but instead his skin shimmered with a strange light as the bladelike appendage rebounded. In retaliation, Rayth incinerated the Kartana in a fountain of crimson flame. The ultra beast went up like a torch, emitting a too-human scream before it flashed away to ash.[break][break]

Jack used his flight ability again to lift skyward, avoiding the onslaught of ultra beasts. His Chandelure remained below, setting them ablaze one-by-one. The terrified, dying screams of men, women, and children filled the air and the pleasant dream of his childhood home bled into a nightmare of the fall of Galar. He tore his eyes away from the conflagration below, looking instead at the charming cottages and medieval-styled shops that spread out around him, trying to keep the memory of the real-life destruction of Galar at bay.[break][break]

When the screaming stopped, Rayth floated up from below and hovered next to him. Tendrils of shadow wrapped around the pokemon as her lamps blazed with a consuming scarlet light. Unable to do anything more float there helplessly, he watched as the shadow storm began on the hillside where he and Watts used to watch the sunrise over the sea. The vortex of darkness grew and grew, twisting and serpentine as it moved toward the town. It obliterated the bakery but instead of shattered stone and wood flying into the air, the storm only consumed. Even the earth below was pulled into the storm, leaving a black abyss that yawned below the town. The storm grew and grew the more it consumed, pulverizing the Galarian League Stadium, sucking up entire neighborhoods in a single sweep, ripping away every piece of his home.[break][break]

When the consuming vortex destroyed Hulbury's lighthouse Jack finally awoke, his face wet with tears.

NOTES

✦ Birth By Sleep: Scenario 3[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Finding himself back in the throneroom filled Jack with dismay. After destroying the dream-realm version of Hulbury, he wondered why he was still willing to play. It had been a cool touch having a dungeon set in one of his dreams, groundbreaking even, but the last quest had just been cruel. Still, when it game to gaming he was a glutton for punishment and Jack was determined to play until he won - for whatever definition of winning this game had.[break][break]

When the Snubbul finished his speech and Jack saw the new inventory item notification, he was quick to check it out.[break][break]

[break][break]

He hesitated, thinking back on his destruction of Hulbury, worried that this memory of importance inside the journal would just be more trauma. After another moment of hesitation, he steeled himself and activated the journal.[break][break]

The sun shone down onto the hot sands of the beach, but a cool breeze was blowing. Almost instinctually, he knelt down a picked up a piece of trash on the beach. Jack knew the memory; one of the times he and his pokemon had done some volunteer clean up at Slateport's beach after the initial time he and Beau Fontaine had done it. And that meant...[break][break]

Before he turned he knew that Gaia would be there but he looked anyway and was wracked by pangs of grief and guilt. The Torterra lumbered along beside him, picking up trash in her enormous mouth and tossing in into a waste container on her back. She looked just the same as she had on the shores of that resurfaced island before the masked Rocket's (BARNABY FINCH) Glastrier had murdered her. But now here she was, helping Jack clean up along a different shore, just like they had done in what felt like a different lifetime.[break][break]

Jack knew it was just a dream, just a dream of a memory of something that had happened before all of the tragedy and loss of the past year. But he pushed that thought away and allowed himself to enjoy it just for that little while.

NOTES

✦ Birth By Sleep: Scenario 4[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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After finding an exact copy of his murdered pokemon in his PC after the last gaming session, it felt almost anticlimactic to log in to an almost empty throne room with only the countdown timer remaining. Most of the player chatter agreed that this was the final countdown to when the servers would shut off, so Jack planned to take a semi-nostalgic stroll through this strange game one final time. Alas, the game world was slowly dissolving away so he had to content himself with watching pixels disappear into the void from one of the castle windows.[break][break]

As he prepared to log out, he checked his menu one final time but even his character data was corrupted. His inventory reduced only to his Chandelure's pokeball... and a wish tag?[break][break]

[break][break]

Huh, well it looked like the game did have one last surprise for him. Jack activated the wish tag item and was quick to input his wish:[break][break]

[break][break]

As he confirmed his selection, the item dissolved away in a wave of pixels. Jack spared one last look around the throne room and the countdown timer and logged out.

NOTES

✦ Birth By Sleep: Scenario 5[break]

BY GUNSMILE