“The nightmare deep within my heart…”

Eyelids heavy, Lu Ye closed his eyes, letting sleep drag him into the darkness.

……

“Ring ring ring—”

“Ring ring ring—”

The alarm clock on the bedside kept ringing.

Reaching out to tap the Pikachu alarm clock, Lu Ye opened his eyes.

Staring at the ceiling, Lu Ye let out a long yawn:

“Another day waking up because I’m just too handsome.”

He got up, washed up, and brushed his teeth while glancing out the window.

A few common Rock Pigeons flapped through the air, the sky was clear and windless.

Lu Ye’s eyes flickered slightly as he bent over to spit out the toothpaste foam, a faint feeling that something was missing lingered in his heart.

“Splash splash—”

Water sounded as the reflection in the mirror looked dazzlingly handsome, so handsome that only when his phone was dead could he look this good.

“Was it a dream?” Lu Ye murmured. “I should have been even more handsome…”

He kept complaining to ease his disappointment but only grew more dejected.

When he sat down at the computer desk, his eyes swept over Cynthia’s screensaver, and Teacher Lu suddenly realized.

“That’s it! Why was I suddenly anxious? It’s because the Diamond and Pearl remake’s music video just came out!”

“Damn GF, the 2021 Diamond and Pearl remake is such trash, they should all resign and let Nintendo take over!”

“Wait… Dawn went from a cute anime girl to a big-headed doll model… then what does that make my Cynthia…”

Lu Ye opened the search app and looked at Cynthia’s ‘chibi style’ model.

He gasped.

Lu Ye slapped his own cheek.

“This has to be a nightmare!!”

Bang!

Closing the door behind him, Lu Ye grabbed his shoulder bag and headed toward the campus.

The red brick wall covered in vines, a wild cat with striped green eyes, walked alongside Lu Ye as they passed the wall.

On the road, a master walked past, leading a black-and-white Alaskan Malamute.

“Woof!” The Alaskan raised its front paws high, wagging its tongue, greeting Lu Ye.

Lu Ye rubbed the Alaskan’s head, and the dog squinted in satisfaction while its master smiled and nodded.

‘They’re all so adorable.’

Lu Ye felt cheerful and walked lightly, but suddenly a sharp pain struck his heart.

‘But they’re not mine…’

Lu Ye stopped and looked back toward the sunlit clearing behind him.

“My… Pokémon.” Lu Ye’s eyes suddenly hardened, and as he lowered his head, his palm clenched tightly around a Poké Ball.

The metallic red-and-white ball gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

A faint smile curled at the corner of Lu Ye’s mouth.

Then Lu Ye forcefully threw the Poké Ball:

“It’s decided—it’s you!”

……

Darkrai’s eyes revealed surprise as it looked at Lu Ye, who smiled with eyes closed.

Even in a nightmare, he could show such a smile…

What gave him this faith and strength?

Pure and untainted emotion dimmed Darkrai’s gaze.

“Alicia…” Darkrai murmured, whispering the name of the one who once trusted and embraced it.

Then, Darkrai shifted its gaze.

Through the pitch-black shadows, it sensed the nightmares around it.

It looked at the soundly sleeping Haunter, the Blastoise wearing sunglasses, and Togepi curled inside its shell…

Those few Poké Balls that had stopped shaking.

……

Neon lights crisscrossed the magical city, exuding romance and distance, red lanterns and flowing crowds.

A jet-black Gastly hovered beneath the dark ceiling of an urban village’s old apartment, drool trickling from its mouth.

“Gengarrr~”

It was very hungry but well-behaved, knowing it had to work to earn its keep.

Gastly sometimes helped the milk delivery workers who came by, supporting the bottom of their crates to ease their effort.

“Ghost!!” But the milkmen would always hurriedly run away, leaving a mess of broken glass bottles.

“Gengarrr~” Gastly stuck out its tongue, carefully avoiding the shards, slurping milk with a satisfied smile.

That day, Gastly met a plainly dressed young man.

He shouted “Mighty Dragon” and threw a Poké Ball at Gastly.

Gastly was happy;
at least being inside the Poké Ball would be more comfortable.

If it worked hard, its master wouldn’t kick it out of the house.

“Stop licking, smile!” The young man took out his phone and snapped a selfie with a ‘click.’

“Gengarrr~o(*≧▽≦)ツ”

Gastly flew in front of the camera, blocking the lens tightly with its eyeballs.

Inside the Poké Ball, Haunter grinned, showing a relieved smile.

Dimly, it saw a cluster of bright light and heard someone calling its name.

Immediately, Haunter flew toward that light.

“Gengarrr!”

……

Under a star-filled wild expanse, shadows of forests flickered.

A tangled, dirt-covered little creature rushed swiftly through the woods.

This Eevee didn’t look cute;
its claws sharp, baring teeth fiercely.

“Eevee!” The Eevee angrily kicked away a Rattata and snatched a Pecha Berry from their mouths.

The Rattatas glared and attacked in a group, but Eevee swiftly fought them off.

Moonlight slanted through the woods.

Covered in blood and injuries, Eevee guarded the stolen berry, leaning against a tree, snorting disdainfully:

“Eevee! o(´^｀)o”

It still remembered that day—it barely escaped but was taken back to the yard by the young man to heal.

Eevee had never slept in a warm bed or tasted delicious energy cubes.

It worried this would all end soon, so it never opened its heart to the young man.

Until that dusk, it turned its back on the young man and walked alone down the path, large tears rolling down.

“Eevee… Eevee!” It couldn’t let him see.

If caught, there was a risk of tears.

It still remembered the unbearable pain when it groggily opened its eyes and saw the white, beautiful ribbon floating before it.

That was the first time it saw a ribbon.

Bang!

“Eevee!” Eevee shrank its neck as a Poké Ball landed precisely above its head.

Laughter echoed from afar: “So it turns out you’re a tsundere!”

The vision went blank;
Sylveon snarled angrily in sleep and turned its head away.

Dimly, it heard someone calling.

So, reluctantly, it flew toward the white light.

“Eevee!”

……

Clear streams flowed with gentle water sounds.

On a green stone, a turtle shell stood firm, a small Pokémon inside silently pondering.

What is the outside world really like?

Why do so many trainers think I’m weak, with no potential to grow stronger…

Squirtle continued waiting in the courtyard, firmly believing someone would appreciate it one day.

But even with trainers authorized by the principal, hearing the astronomical numbers involved in training ‘Aura,’ they all shook their heads and left.

“Squirtle!” Squirtle still remembered the first encounter with the young man.

It withdrew into its shell, stayed on the green stone, waiting for the young man’s sigh.

But the young man smiled and said to it: “We have the same goal.”

“Believe that with you here, our dream will come true soon.”

Squirtle was deeply moved.

To survive in a chaotic world without seeking fame or fortune…

“Squirtle!” Squirtle stretched out its little hand, gently placed it on that big palm.

It decided that even risking its life, it would make sure he became champion!

In his sleep, Blastoise still held a Chesto Berry in its mouth, unable to swallow it.

It vaguely saw a cluster of white light and heard someone calling it.

Blastoise walked steadily, slowly moving toward the white light.

“Blastoise!”

……

Growlithe often thought about the scene of its mother fighting bravely.

That majestic Arcanine, flames flickering all over, baring teeth as she charged into the enemy ranks.

Growlithe dreamed of becoming a ‘hero,’ and that dream made even the seemingly carefree Growlithe sneak out to train at night.

It often had nightmares, dreaming of its mother lying in a pool of blood, eyes wide open staring at it.

“Awooo…” It whimpered in its sleep, opening its eyes to see the man under the moonlight rubbing his eyes as he got up.

“Are you hungry?” The man shook his head helplessly, got out of bed, and rubbed Growlithe’s head hard. “I told you to eat less or your stomach will get too big!”

Growlithe opened its mouth and nuzzled the man’s pants affectionately, still letting him rub its chin.

“Awooo~! ᕦ(･ㅂ･)ᕤ”

“All right, I’ll make something for you… what flavor do you want?”

Growlithe wanted to be the team’s backbone, to sacrifice itself when necessary, a hero like its mother.

But luckily, as long as it stayed with its master, it felt any difficulty could be overcome.

Growlithe didn’t know if it should train harder.

Maybe training with the big sister would make it tougher…

But just being with its master was the happiest thing in the world.

“Awooo~!” In its sleep, Arcanine’s lion-like fierce face showed a calm, honest sleeping expression.

It dreamed of its master waving from afar, then turning its back and walking away.

Arcanine ran recklessly, moving its limbs toward the light:

“Awooo!”

……

“Cheeky doo ee~ヾ(｡｀Д´｡)ﾉ彡”

Togepi’s ‘nightmare’ was quite simple: it dreamed of ten consecutive losses in a game and angrily threw the console aside.

Then Togepi took out its phone, opened Mew’s avatar, planning to learn new moves from it.

But the new moves were obscure and the training quite tough.

“Doo ee~” Excitement slowly blossomed in Togepi’s eyes.

Darkrai, watching the nightmare, was stunned.

Wow… why do this trainer’s Pokémon get so excited about training?!

Such a tough, exhausting training process is just like playing games to them?

“Could it be the master’s exemplary influence…”

Darkrai glanced at the young trainer and murmured:

“Looks like he’s wholeheartedly aiming to become a legendary trainer…”

After the online class with Mew ended, Togepi bounced happily, holding cola and chips, rolling around in the room.

But today, its master hadn’t appeared for a long time.

“Cheeky doo ee~(｡•́︿•̀｡)”

Togepi sat on the ground, swinging its little feet, feeling a bit down.

Suddenly, Togepi saw a light from afar and excitedly jumped up.

It hugged a big bottle of cola and hurried toward the light to share with its master.

“Cheeky doo ee~ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ”

……

“Quack! (´థ౪థ)σ”

Sirfetch’d dreamed it became world champion—

Salutes fired, fireworks dazzling, its master led it into the hall of honor, ready for photos.

“Why the sour face?” Lu Ye asked. “Didn’t we say we’d make you world champion?”

Sirfetch’d felt a pang of sadness, overwhelmed with emotion.

Ducklett just wanted to be a carefree duck~

No!

This must be fake, Ducklett is dreaming!!

Darkrai’s gaze was surprised as it looked at the shaking commemorative ball.

This Sirfetch’d was the first among all Pokémon present to break free from Dark Void.

“Such strong power…”

Darkrai clicked its tongue, continuing to watch the nightmare, frozen in place.

In the gradually awakening nightmare, Sirfetch’d fell into a new round of terror again.

“Quack!”

The proud and holy white knight swung its lance, the tip glowing hot red, piercing straight through a giant dog holding a holy sword in its mouth!

“It… even saw Cobalion!?”

Over a hundred years, Darkrai had learned two giant dogs’ names from travelers.

In the Galar region, only the name ‘Cobalion’ matched the figure appearing now.

Darkrai stared blankly at the commemorative ball.

It found it increasingly hard to understand this Pokémon…

On Sirfetch’d, there was a strong aura even Darkrai couldn’t ignore.

More importantly, there was some connection between it and Cobalion…

“What does this have to do with nightmares?”

Darkrai whispered to itself:

“Defeating Cobalion… shouldn’t that be a beautiful dream?”

“Quack! (´థ౪థ)σ”

Sirfetch’d looked at the defeated Cobalion, trembling.

What if the other Virizion comes to take revenge?!

This must be a nightmare… Ducklett just wants to be a carefree duck~!

A white light lit up from afar, and the master’s call came.

Sirfetch’d moved its duck feet and ran quickly toward the white light.

“Quack!”

……

In Lu Ye’s dream,

That clearing constantly flickered with white light.

“It’s decided—it’s you!”

When he shouted this line,

The little guys all appeared from their Poké Balls and gathered beside him.

At this moment, the grudges in Lu Ye’s heart vanished, memories revived, and a smile appeared on his face.

For him, forgetting his Pokémon might be the most painful nightmare.

And the ‘chibi’ Cynthia in the Diamond and Pearl remake version within the dream…

Lu Ye: “Ahem… better not tell her about this dream.”

Still in the dream, the little guys appeared near him in near-spirit forms.

For a moment, cries of ghosts and wolves, and Eevee’s sounds never ceased.

Lu Ye smiled gently, stroking each of his Pokémon.

Looking into their clear eyes, Lu Ye vaguely felt the bonds between them grew even stronger.

This was Teacher Lu’s purest emotion with the little guys.

Of course, it included Mengmengda…

When they dreamed of him, Lu Ye also dreamed of similar scenes.

However,

Lu Ye glanced at the Rotom Pokédex beside him and curiously asked, “What dream did you have? Why didn’t I see it?”

The Rotom Pokédex stroked its chin with a mechanical arm, and a big question mark appeared on its screen:

“Dreamt… I became a tree fruit stall, Rotom.”

Lu Ye: “… Maybe you’ve been working too many energy cubes lately, here’s a three-day vacation.”

“Long live understanding, Rotom!”

The Lunar Wing in his pocket finally emitted a faint glow.

In front of this legendary-level Darkrai, the Lunar Wing’s effect was also very limited.

Lu Ye: “… Your delay is way too high! I’m already awake and you’re just coming online!”

Lunar Wing: “…”

“How can you know if you’re awake or still dreaming?”

A voice of doubt sounded, and a dark shadow before him slowly rose, churning waves of murky water—Darkrai.

“I’m not interested in philosophical debates right now.”

Lu Ye looked into Darkrai’s blue eyes and said deliberately:

“I came because I have something more important to tell you.”

……

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read