The air felt thick as if shrouded in a spectral haze, and my consciousness struggled to pierce through the veil of slumber. Echoes of a distant voice reverberated in the dark expanse of my dreams. Not the usual screams that have long haunted my sleep. A new voice, yet familiar all the same.

“Give it back!”

The words resonated with an urgency that cut through the fog of my mind. I grappled with the remnants of sleep, attempting to make sense of the ethereal demand.

“What?” I mumbled, my voice a mere whisper in the otherworldly stillness.

“It’s not yours, it’s mine! Give it back!”

Confusion knitted my brows. I sought clarity, a futile endeavour in the nebulous realm between wakefulness and dreams. What was being claimed? By whom?

Struggling against the weight of my own eyelids, I attempted to open my eyes. The effort felt monumental, as if the very act of waking held a profound significance. The fog that veiled my perception took on an otherworldly purple and black hue, an unsettling manifestation of the spectral encounter. Somehow without opening my eyes, I began to know my surroundings.

A mirror materialized before me; its surface distorted by the mist. At first, I thought it reflected my own features, but as the fog shifted, so did the image. It wasn't me staring back, but a face contorted by anguish and malevolence — Cain's face.

I recoiled, the realization hitting me like a jolt. "Cain?"

The visage in the spectral mirror twisted into a grotesque sneer. "Who else did you expect, Simon?"

The air crackled with an eerie energy as the truth settled upon my drowsy mind, a surety despite the strangeness of the situation settled within me. This wasn't a dream; it was a communion of souls. I inhabited a stolen vessel, the true owner’s soul suspended in the liminal space between life and whatever came after. Where is a Darkrai intervention when you need one.

"Cain, why are you here?" I asked, the spectral mirror dissipating as the fog wove its enigmatic dance. Leaving behind Cain his body flickering in and out of the black swirls of the fog.

His laughter echoed, a haunting melody that seemed to emanate from the very essence of the purple-tinted mist. "You're in my body, Simon. I'm reclaiming what's rightfully mine."

A sense of urgency gripped me, and I understood that this encounter transcended the physical. Our bodies were mere shells; it was our souls entwined in this surreal dance. I could feel myself getting smaller as Cains form grew. My eyelids getting heavier.

“That’s right Simon, let that broken toy of a soul of yours rest.” A flash of a blonde woman appeared from the mist to call out to me, her voice that would have sounded caring to another filling me with dread. Her face an empty white mask cutting through the darkness.

“Simon don’t you want to come with me, and we can be a family again.” The woman reached out toward me.

“No, not you. You can’t be here! I didn’t escape you for this to be all I get!” I try to protest, but my voice had faded from an adult to that of when I was a child. Memories of being punished, striking me like the physical blows that had long since healed before my death, ripping into my soul.

“You don’t get to choose coward…” they both hissed at me in unison.

“It’s my body Simon! You don’t get a second chance!”

“You’re the reason he’s gone, it’s your fault! You don’t get to leave me alone too!”

The pair shout over one another, more of the purple fog giving way to the black. I can feel the cold creeping over me, the cold that I have used to protect myself for so long, now being used by them to suffocate me. I see a shadow between the pair, the black of the mist pulling them together, half of their visages being used to form a new third form. As I grow weaker, my soul form rips apart like confetti, disappearing into the mist. Yet, paradoxically, it grows more solid. A single eye comes into form, with a yellow iris and a pupil the colour of blood.

“Your wrong, it’s not my fault…” my words are barley a scared whisper. A lie escaping my lips as I feel the last parts of me begin to flake off into the mist. Then suddenly something stops my dissipation, pulling me back from the edge. What would be my arm feeling tight, constrained. The pieces unable to separate.

“Nothing wrong with being afraid but dinnae give in, lad. Face yer fears” In the midst of the daunting void, the thick Scottish voice resonates encouragement that tears through the darkness with a purple wave of mist. A strong tempered voice, yet as gentle as a great oak protecting a sapling from the elements. Each statement punctuated by a purple ripple through the fog, each larger than the last. “Fear's a fierce adversary, but it's born of the unknown. You know what you fear all too well for that.”

“Please not you too, I can’t.” I say, somehow my voice stronger more solid, despite my fear of who that voice belongs too. I feel a gentle heat in my soul, pulsing gently rhythmically. Just a small thing but growing with each beat of warmth and pulse of purple. I feel a large, calloused hand on my back steady me, holding me together. My form begins to pull itself together and between me and the monstrous, entangled trio a new form is coalescing from the purple mist. Amidst the purples and blacks of the spectral battleground, the amalgamated figure of man and Ghastly stands incomplete yet resolute against the encircling Dusclops. “Embrace the fear, and ye'll find it holdin' less power over ye than ye ever thought”.

“Why, why would you help me of all people?” I cry out needing answers, my voice louder, once again an adults. The hand pulls away from me drifting toward the purple pair forming from the mist. The Dusknoir almost completely formed, thrashes at the pair trying to reach me with hands made of Cain and the masked woman. Each hand screaming their demands at me still. Their voices are muted now though, unable to pass that of my guardians. They aren’t solid and are so much smaller than the towering form of Dusknoir, yet they keep the nightmare at bay.

"Ye're stronger than ye ken, lad. I can feel it in the very core o' yer bein'. Let that strength guide ye through, and dinnae let the shadows of the past swallow ye whole." Another great burst of heat fills my soul, and I can see the form of Dusknoir being trapped once again behind a mirror, Cain’s vile sneer never leaving his face. "Go on now, lad. Shouldn't keep a lady waiting. We can hold things here a while till yer ready to face yer fear.” With that, a final pulse of purple washed over the fog. It didn’t erase the black, just bringing it back to a balance between the two forces. And I felt my eyelids open, and my ribs, which I’m pretty sure were already in pretty bad shape, crack under each press of Yasmin's palms on my chest.

“Is it time to wake up already?” I croak out after a wheezing breath and begin to cough.

Yasmin stops abruptly, her hands frozen in mid-air. Her eyes widening with a mix of shock, relief, and disbelief as she processes the fact that I’m alive.

"You're back!" Yasmin exclaims, a mixture of surprise and joy in her voice. She withdraws her hands, giving me some space to breathe, her expression shifting from intense focus to a wide, relieved smile. She ‘s hovering close her arms twitching either from exhaustion or from wanting to give me a hug. "I could slap you for scaring me like that” Or she could want to slap me, yeah that’s fair.

"I must be the living embodiment of 'a hard day at the office' for you at this point," I manage to quip weakly, my voice still raspy from the recent ordeal. Yasmin, though visibly relieved, chuckles at my attempt at humour.

"You have no idea," she replies, a lightness in her tone, a stark contrast to the tension that had filled the air just moments ago. "But seriously, don't scare me like that again."

I offer a weak nod, managing a small smile. The gravity of the situation is still fresh, but the shared relief creates a brief moment of connection. Which Venonat unashamedly ruins with a full body tackle. I guess she was a bit worried too.

“How long was I asleep?” I mumble out from beneath Venonats furry bulk.

“That wasn’t sleep Cain, your heart stopped the second you hit the deck.” I wouldn’t have noticed right away if he hadn’t forced his way out of his ball and started freaking out despite the injuries. I look where Yasmin is pointing to see Ekans, barely conscious his wounds still visible from the fight with Rhydon. He is coiled around my arm, unable to even lift his head yet I can feel him straining to tighten his hold on me. Oh great, another river is splashing water on my face, or its raining. Yeah, totally raining in this very localised spot.

“It’s really good to see you, Buddy… and thanks.” Ekans, flicks his tongue out gently on my arm before succumbing to unconsciousness once more. Yasmin helps me return him to his ball.

“He looks worse than you said, I don’t know how he had the strength to break out of his ball in that condition. You’re also clearly worse off than I thought.” She looks at me as I open my mouth to respond and interrupts. “And if you dare say ‘I’m fine’ after up and dying on me, I’m calling in that slap. Trauma be damned.” Okay fair.

“So what now? I do think I could probably sleep now without; you know…”

“Not really feeling like risking that in the middle of the forest Cain.” Also, fair. “Think you can walk, I could call in support but honestly we could be almost at the outpost before they managed to locate us anyway.” I give a resolute nod and with the help of Yasmin got to my feet. Venonat kept close and let me lean on her head has we walked for support while Sandslash walke behind me. I think in case I fell over but with those claws I’m not sure if that would help or hurt.

“What’s the new ETA then?”

“Probably the middle of the night but let me know if it becomes too much and we can stop.”

“Will do.” Yasmin gave me that sceptical look. Geez it’s like she thinks I have a death wish. Where did she possibly get that impression. I did after all feel a bit better and more solid in my body. I do actually believe I could sleep without worry for now, but Yasmin is right that we best not chance it. I decided to instead let my thoughts rest and allow the sight and sounds of a Pokémon filled forest once again enchant and distract me from the beings warring for my soul.