The strongest stench of rotten wood she'd ever smelled in all her life harpooned her nostrils as she entered the room - which was to be expected from the cheapest inn in town, if the half-broken sign at the entrance had been anything to go by. Still, the little Pokémon brought a hand to her mouth, retching. She had a quick look around; the only light source in the entire room was a small, sputtering lantern hanging from the ceiling, shedding faint sizzles of quivering orange and red, the flames shivering and dancing at the cold wind's mercy. Her pupils contracted upon noticing it, the lantern's light reflecting on her big, heliotrope eyes. She blinked a couple of times before focusing on what was ahead of her.

The Espurr barely managed to close the door behind her and make the short path that separated the entrance from the hay bed under the window before collapsing, exhausted. Everything in her bag rolled out on the floor as it fell next to her. Alas, she was too tired to do anything about it; her body felt like it was on fire, so she simply allowed herself to get some rest.

Because to say her day had been eventful would be an understatement, but she didn't want to think about that. In fact, she didn't want to think about anything that wasn't the sweet, sweet coma-like state induced by the ever merciful Cresselia!

She gazed at the inky, star-dotted sky outside for a bit, before closing her eyes. And as her mind dozed off into the soft darkness of unconsciousness, ignoring the stinging sensation of hay against her back scar, she finally fell asleep.

I̶͜ ̛͢w̵̕͞o̡ń͜d̡̕e̕r̡͜ ̶̵̛w͡h́a̶͠t ̸̷̛I'̸̵l̶̕ĺ͠ ha̛҉̧v̴́͢e ̶͘f̀o̡r̶͜͡ dį̸n͘n̴é̕r̨͞.͘͟.͘.҉

She blinked slowly in the sea of white.

...What?

What the heck was this place?

It was candid and brighter than a Sunny Day, but it wasn't overwhelming; if anything, it felt... soothing, in a way she couldn't quite explain, almost like her soul could simply drift off and slowly fade in the pallid light at a moment's notice.

.́҉͢.͏.͜҉He͏̸͢y̢ ̵ý҉o͟͡ ͏w͜ḩ͘͜o̷̧͟ ̀͟t̛̀h͟e̷͞ ͡h̴̶e̢͏́ck ́́a̸̢͟re͜ ̷̡y̧ou͡?̡̕

She brought a paw to her head, wincing.

Those words hadn't been spoken.

If anything, they had been planted into her head.

...Was that how telepathy felt like?

..͠.̢͏He͡ll̛̕o?͏̷͡ ̨C̵a͢ņ҉͞ y̛o̷̸͞u̵͡ ̶̧h̷è̢a̧̢r͜ ͜mę̧͞?̴̀

Crap.

This wasn't good.

This wasn't good at all.

The words were all muffled and sizzling, as if enveloped in a thick veil brimming with electricity.

Oh̵,̡͝ t̵͡͞hȩ̛̀r̀ȩ̧ ̡you ̡̀͏a̕r̡͡e̢

...Whoever that was, it looked like they were able to see her, while she had no idea where they were.

And she did NOT like this one bit.

She took a step back.

.̡.͡.Wa͡it͠,͠ w͜hęr͢e͢ ̕ar̕e you͡ g̀ǫing?̛

And then another.

Then the crackling of electricity transpired through the pallid light.

Her eyes shot open as she jolted awake, gasping for air. What... the heck was that...? Was it a dream? It had to be a dream, right? Right? It was too surreal to be anything else than a vision of her mind! But... she remembered it. She remembered it vividly, unlike the faint smokes of Cresselia's words that would usually be forgotten in a heartbeat.

Something broke that string of thought, however. Something big, yellowy and six-eyed. Something that was apparently busy crawling towards her with their four arching legs.

It took her brain a few seconds to register the scene.

...Oh, wow, there was a Galvantula in her room....

...

...

...

...OH SHIT THERE WAS A GALVANTULA IN HER ROOM!!!

OH GODS OH CRAP OH HECK OH NONONONONONONONO THIS WASN'T HAPPENING!!!

Her first instinct was to get the hell away from the EleSpider Pokémon, but her body simply refused to listen to her brain. Crap, had they used Thunder Wave on her?! Was that what the weird sizzling noise at the end of her 'dream' was?

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap...!

She tried to let out a scream, but the Galvantula was already gagging her, so the only thing to come out of her mouth was a weak, muffled cry. Soon enough, she found herself tied head to toes.

"Now, now", the electric bug whispered, his voice a coarse shiver in the dark. "There is no need to panic yet. Be a good girl, and no one has to get hurt".

With that said, he unceremoniously lifted her and placed her on her back, before crawling outside the window and into the night, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

She wanted to struggle. She desperately wanted to do something, but... what was there to do? Paralyzed, tied up and gagged, there was nothing she could do. She was utterly powerless, like a wild Oshawott orphan at the mercy of the ocean's mighty waves. A small tear flourished in her eye; at the end of the day, nothing had changed - no matter how far away from home she was, how much she struggled, how much it took her to get this far, she was still helpless and pathetic... like always.

...What was she expecting, anyways?

As if things would ever change for her.

When the Galvantula crawled down to the ground, the Espurr's ears already couldn't capture the noise from town anymore. She wanted to cry; to just... curl up and cry herself to dryness. The Galvantula tilted his back, and she fell on the ground with a muffled thud, the wet grass soaking her fur. A cold breeze was blowing on her skin now, as the smell of fresh grass entered her nose, along with... something she couldn't identify. It was similar to a dusty old floor that hadn't been cleaned in ages.

"...So that's her?", a coarse, masculine voice asked. "...Seems kinda small, not gonna lie".

"We were told she was seventeen", the Galvantula replied. "I mean, look at her - this is the seventeenest girl I've ever seen!".

"Yeah, but it seems kinda weird that a seventeen-year-old managed to purchase a stay at an inn!". The Espurr felt something nudge at her shoulder, before being turned on her back, meeting the crimson gaze of a Zangoose. He was standing next to a cart hooked to a Mudsdale. "Literally, what kind of dimwit moron sees a fucking kid in the streets and doesn't wonder where their goddamn parents are?! Is she REALLY seventeen years old?!".

"Uh... maybe she just lied about her age?", the electric spider suggested, hauling the Espurr on the cart. "I mean, we did that pretty often too, right?".

The Zangoose blinked a couple of times. "...Ah. That... actually makes a lot of sen-".

The Mudsdale let out an irritated neigh, stomping its hooves on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, very cool, we should probably go". The Galvantula hopped on the cart... but not before giving the Mudsdale an apple, which it gladly ate in two bites. "Bessy is getting nervous, and we have like... eight hours before the stablemaster finds out we stole her".

His partner in crime stared at him dumbfounded before joining him on the cart. "...You named it?".

Their conversation seemed to fade away as the Espurr began to really understand how bad the situation was. Those two weren't just some random kidnappers; they had come for her. They were here to bring her back home.

This had to be a nightmare....

She had literally just arrived in town, how the hell did they find her already?! Was it something she had left behind, or... or was her mother actually capable of predicting her every move? Was that what all those mind-reading sessions were actually for?!

...She had tried so hard, but in the end... it was useless, wasn't it? Maybe... she shouldn't have tried in the first place....

Tiredness finally overcame her, and she fell asleep once more.

She was in a bedroom. The damp, sticky floor and the dirty, web-covered walls surrounded her from all sides. Ah, so it was her bedroom. Of course! She slowly stepped towards the metal door, its engravings pulsing with black ripples of Dark power. Slowly, she stretched her paw towards the golden handle, her breath heavy with anticipation.

"No".

Her paw stopped half a hair's length away from the handle. She slowly turned around, ears twitching, fur shivering, her eyes widening upon meeting the tall figure standing in the hallway.

"You were trying to run away".

"N-No, I just-".

"Yes you were".

"But-".

"No".

"I-I was just wondering if maybe there was another way we-".

"No". The figure took an apple out of its quivering shadow. "There's only me. There's only my way. I know best".

She bowed her head. "Y-Yes, ma'am...".

"Now, follow me".

Before she could obey, however, the entire hallway quaked.

And she woke up all of a sudden, with the light of the Sun shining through her half-closed eyelids. She blinked a couple of times, wondering where her bedroom was. Then, memories from the day before started flooding her brain like a downpour. She had a quick look around and- yep, she was still tied up, still laying in a cart, and still paralyzed.

"Hey, good morning, princess!" the Zangoose announced. "Listen, uh, we're about to enter the Shattered Peaks, so the ride might get a bit bumpy".

...Shattered Peaks?

Wait, wasn't that place a Mystery Dungeon?

It was totally a Mystery Dungeon, right?

AND THEY WERE GOING TO CROSS IT ON A CART?!

This was madness. This was foolish. This was some dangerous, dangerous stuff, and they were all going to die!