Doug had called out to her again, as what had happened in the real world beforehand. Lucia was more than thrilled to hear it was him, but his call echoed again and again, soon growing deeper in tone as it swirled around her. The girl started to feel uneasy as it had begun to feel more and more familiar.

Then she heard it. The unsettling tone of disappointment and frustration that had brought terror upon her. Every time the voice spoke her name, she flinched. Her heart rate raced while she clutching her ears in some attempt to silence the voice.

”N-No! I ran away, I-I can't be…”

Lucia continued to panic, as the mists around the both of them had begun to merge the dream both people shared. The futuristic cityscape had began to warp at the seams, merging into the darkened Paldean streets that the child was backing away from Doug into.

”Please, stop!...I can't go back- I don't wanna go back. Throw me back in the cell, j-just not here!”

She was like a caged animal, desperate to prevent whatever was happening take her back home. Lucia clutched her head and just sprinted away, trying not to allow the voice of her parents inside of her head.

John Sullivan | ameena abadi

☉

Lucia continued to ran frantically. She didn't have any idea where this scenery was in terms of a good place to hide, but anyplace away from here was good enough. When the scenery returned back into Megaopolis, she watched as the ground began to glow faintly of magma underneath her fleeing feet. John's question was ignored as she spied the cityscape becoming more fragile, and the tower look ready to collapse at any moment. She eventually came to a stop in a breathless mess.

"Ah-I'm sorry. Bad memories." she said, feeling some minor relief at Megaopolis as compared to the brief Paldean landscape.

Lucia looked up at her mentor again, her expression troubled. She wanted to tell him everything, just blabber on about how fucked up her life was, but she knew he wouldn't care. All she could do was to look troubled at him before finally speaking.

"What's going on? Are we still in the prison? Why is Paldea here?"

All questions that she was praying that Doug had the solution for, though none was likely. She hung around him still, trying to study around them for some kind of clue or answer.

John Sullivan | ameena abadi

☉

The landscape before them was fragile, with buildings and skyscrapers filled to the brim with instabilities. The actual time they were in this weird, funky dream, everything had appeared resolute and firmly ground. To see it in a state like this was pretty disheartening. Where would all the megaopolans live in a place like this anyway?

But what was more surprising was how Doug had begun to slowly rewind the ages of time that had passed. Lucia stood beside the combat medic, floored at the sudden amount of power he could just have to rewind time so freely.

"Are you doing all this?"

She watched as pillars and concrete towers were slowly turned back in time to their original places. Glass shards reformed into planes and settled comfortable inside of their sockets. It was breathtaking to see, but was a good amount of evidence to suggest that they were, in fact, dreaming.

"I guess were are...But it feels so- Grk!"

A tightness wound around the child's neck, unseen. Lucia inhaled as much air as she could given the blockage and clutched her throat. Her noises were pained and struggling to breathe properly. Any attempts of coughing or clearing her throat weren't working, and she was slowly falling back down to her knees.

Lucia looked up with terrified, pained eyes that moved in erratic patterns.

A whisper flowed through her own ears, instructions on what to do to survive this ordeal.

She had to confess. To speak only the truth.

But she couldn't! All these secrets she had kept from not only Doug, but everybody! She had so much to keep away from people, to make sure that there wasn't anybody that could ever see her dirty laundry!

"Can't...breathe...""

If she died in the dream, would she then die in her sleep? Lucia didn't know. The restriction of air was gaining strength over time, a good enough deterrent from keeping things inside of her bright little mind. Her eyes focused on Doug while she reluctantly let the floodgates open.

"I-I'm sorry. I have to tell the truth." Lucia said before reluctantly let the floodgates open.

"M-My parents are Rocket members in Paldea, and they've been in since they were your age."

The thorns had stopped growing at least, but she still had felt the air escaping her.

"I have an older brother before he disappeared and put all the expectations on me. My first Pokemon was Hero, I wanted to get something like a cool Fuecoco but he found me first. I helped smuggle Pokemon to Team Rocket"

She coughed again, still choking. It wasn't good enough?! She gulped down any last thoughts of what Doug might have thought of her before she finally let out what she had been holding back.

---

tw:// abuse & its aftereffects

SPOILER: Click to show

"If...If I didn't live up to my parents' expectations, they'd hit me. Dad would get frustrated that I didn't pass a class or didn't do as well as my brother and just lashed out. Sometimes it was slapping, but other times, he'd throw books, tablets, cups, anything he had at me."

"I had to learn how to apply make up to prevent anybody from finding out."

"Ah-I lost the qualifiers for the Blueberry Regional Trainer Cup. He kicked Hero while he was recovering, called him weak and I yelled. H...He put his hands on my throat and squeezed, all while telling me that I was worthless to him, and that I had better started to take things more seriously."

The thorns were slowly shrinking down again, signifying that she was being truthful, though they still were fastened tight.

"I ran away from Blueberry Academy a week after that by sneaking onto a fishing boat and hiding. We got to Slateport and I ran off as fast as I could. i don't know where I'm going or who I run into, that's why I don't trust the League. I'm homeless and sleep on a moldy mattress in the park where nobody can see me."

Lucia was crying again, tears slipping down her cheeks as her throat was slowly gaining some slack while she continued belting out truths to herself that she thought could help. Anything that she thought could rid this thing lodged inside of her throat.

"I'm responsible for everything. I'm not good enough for my parents, not good enough for the gyms..."

The choking feeling returned, but she continued on.

"I deserve everything bad that happens to me for being weak."

Tighter.

"My parents were right, and I should have been the one to go missing, not my brother..."

Even tighter...

"And I..." she coughed once, then continued. "I don't deserve to be happy."

---

Although lessened, Lucia could feel the airways struggled to keep from being closed. She wanted out, wanted to actually live through this ordeal./ Hands pawed at her neck for a rope that was not there.

John Sullivan | ameena abadi

☉

Once the collar popped itself from around her neck, Lucia gasped for precious air as confetti rained down upon them. Lucia clutched her throat while feeling her hands trace the area where the collar of thorns had been present, only for Doug to hug her again. While pained and hesitant, she did return the embrace this time.

His question burned itself inside of her mind. Why did she feel like everything bad that had happened was on her instead of them? It had been some time since she stopped to consider it. And yeah, it made sense. She was trying to get away from all of that. And no matter how much people told her, they just didn't understand.

"B-Because it just is!" Lucia said in a pathetic whine. "If I was a better trainer, my parents would...and my brother would still be here! B-But I wouldn't have met you and- I don't know! I'm sorry, okay?!"

She became cognizant of something with Doug. A kink in his armor that she could peer into and see just how he got his powers. In her little frantic fit, she despised herself for being a thorn in Doug's side for so long. He probably hated her, always crying and nagging.

"Ah-I'm sorry. I just need to be strong like you. Please don't hate me..."

Lucia tugged and sapped Doug of the newfound powers wholesale. The sudden feeling of pure power flowed through her smaller body as she felt all weird. Like vibrating, but she wasn't hurt or anything. In fact, she felt the best she had since she had left Paldea! With this new stolen abilities, she'd get started on what her goal was.

Lucia caused the buildings of Megaopolis to shrink, break, collapse in on itself and more. She was going to do whatever it took to construct the home she wanted most of all. Nothing else mattered in the long term, even if it meant destroying all of the city.

John Sullivan | ameena abadi

☉