Unrequited Wish

Jared's head began to throb, causing him to feel dizzy and lose his balance, sending him tumbling to the ground.

As the pulsing pain intensified, Jared's mind raced to his companion Gastly. 'Oh shit, I completely forgot about Gastly'

With nervousness creeping in, Jared called out, while frantically looking around, "Gastly, where are you? Are you okay?"

Out of the darkness, a familiar shape materialized, and Jared's heart skipped a beat. "Gaaast?" Gastly replied.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jared placed a hand over his chest. "Thank god, so you made it... But I can't seem to recall anything," he said.

Looking into Gastly's confused stare, Jared added, "Hopefully you remember more than I did. We need to have a talk..."

Then Jared commanded, "Gastly, use hypnosis,"

Jared found himself back in the alley once again, his gaze fixed on a shadowy figure taking shape before him. Ignoring the two shadowy men lurking in the background, Jared spoke up."Did we enter the greater nightmare? What happened in there? I can't seem to recall anything," he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Night come, master protect," the shadowy figure replied cryptically.

"I understand that, but I need more information," Jared said, scratching his cheek. "And did you just call me master?"

"Yes, master," the shadowy figure repeated.

Jared felt a flicker of satisfaction as he pondered inwardly, "At least he's speaking to me with more respect now. Maybe he's starting to come around? But then again, I did force him into servitude. Still, it's only been a few days... whatever happened inside the greater nightmare must have had a huge impact for such a dramatic change in attitude" Jared reasoned.

Shaking off his thoughts, Jared focused on the matter at hand. "Okay, let's take it one step at a time. Can you tell me how you brought me into the greater nightmare?" he asked Gastly.

.

Some time later, and after painstakingly piecing together Gastly's cryptic responses, Jared learned that Gastly had created a bridge between his dream and the greater nightmare, allowing him to pass through. However, beyond that, Jared couldn't gleam much else, except for the fact that they were besieged by Gastlys and Haunters, and the lanterns' light kept them at bay.

Despite the lack of clarity, Jared felt a sense of relief knowing that everything had turned out alright in the end. For now, that was enough to satisfy him. He also remembered that his tutor would be expecting him, so instead of staying here any longer he decided to end the dream.

Jared spoke in a solemn voice, "Gastly, hurry up and kill me."

To his surprise, Gastly refused by floating away

Walking towards the rebellious shadow, Jared demanded an explanation. "Why not?"

"Look, Self Master," Gastly replied, turning around, it's eerie eyes seemingly concerned.

Jared raised his hand and gasped as he saw through it!

Looking up at Gastly for answers, he asked in alarm, "What's happening to me? Am I becoming a ghost?"

"No. Hurt."

Jared looked down and saw that the rest of his body was also transparent. "So I'm hurt? Will I recover?" he asked Gastly.

Gastly's response was cryptic. "No. Yes."

Jared was puzzled. "No, yes? What do you mean? Maybe? You don't know?"

As Gastly floated away silently, Jared sighed in frustration. "Well, that's not very helpful. At least I know why I felt like crap after waking up. So what now? Do we just wait for the dream to end naturally?"

Receiving no answer, Jared's face lit up with an idea. "Actually, this could be a good opportunity. With everything that's been happening, and me trying to keep you hidden, I haven't had a chance to test your abilities properly. Let's change that. Apart from hypnosis, what else can you do?"

Gastly stuck out his long tongue. "Lick," he replied.

Raised an eyebrow in disbelief, Jared asked, "Just lick? That's it?"

Noticing Gastly's usual silent acknowledgment, Jared nodded in resignation. "Well, I suppose it's better than nothing."

Jared had heard that trainers could amplify their pokemons' moves by acting as an amplifier. However, even when he commanded Gastly to lick the wall, he didn't feel any different. He wondered if he was doing something wrong or if it was due to being in a dream. After trying every kind of test he could think of, the dream began to dissolve and break apart.

As Jared then opened his eyes, he stood up to look outside, but he suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled, bruising his knee, cursing in frustration.

Looking at the sun's position, he realized that he had probably missed his appointment. Shaking his head, he began crawling over to the phone, doing his best to ignore the splitting headache, and talking to distract his mind, "I should call and apologize before they send someone looking for me..."

After crawling over to the phone he plugged it in and dialled the colleges number. He had unhooked the phone before the greater nightmare just in case it would disturb him somehow. After calling the college reception and explaining that he was feeling under the weather, he slumped back down. "Fuck, I'm beginning to feel worse and worse."

Crawling to the mattress and laying down, he called Gastly to him. Since he was concerned that perhaps the hypnosis's were partly responsible for his weakening state, he tried to communicate through gestures. In this case, he pointed to Gastly, then pretended to put something in his mouth, and eat, then he pointed to the tiny kitchen.

Jared had already explained while in the dream that since it was difficult to communicate in reality with words, he instructed Gastly to pay attention to his gestures instead. Pokemon could mostly understand commands through the tone of voice, rather than understanding the contents, but only through repeated practice, however he didn't have that luxury now.

Understanding the message, Gastly floated towards the kitchen. After half a minute, it returned and, like a piñata, it turned slightly more transparent, dropping all the contents it carried inside itself at the foot of the bed.

Jared facepalmed seeing that Gastly brought literally everything - the rice, the bread, all the cutlery, the spices, and even his bag.

"Whatever," he grunted, wincing at the headache. He grabbed the bread and began munching away, the headache souring his mood.

.

The next two days were somewhat difficult, but mostly boring. Since Jared could barely walk, it was tough to get water or go to the bathroom. However, he was happy to find that Gastly was able to hold him in their body and move him around. The experience felt weird and hard to describe. It was like being grabbed by a giant hand covered in a cold, wet sock that had been left in a refrigerator. That was also something Jared wanted, but like many things in this world, it was a luxury item that he couldn't afford.

By the third day, Jared found that he was barely transparent in his dream, but Gastly still refused to eat him. Perhaps he wasn't fully recovered yet.

He also realized that he had missed the club meeting, but he didn't really mind. Although he had spent most of his time in bed, he wasn't idle all the time. He discovered that, just like in his dream, commanding Gastly to use lick didn't make him feel any different. When he spoke to Gastly again in his dream, Gastly said that he didn't feel any boost in his move at all. "At least the headache is mostly gone," Jared thought, looking out the window into the alley where he saw a hunched figure hobbling down the street. "Maybe I would have recovered faster if I wasn't eating such lousy bread and rice all the time. I need to earn more money and start eating better. But first, I need to figure out why I can't amplify Gastly's moves. I have Kukui's and Mali's numbers. I could ask them instead of going out, but it would be a bit suspicious. Moreover, Kukui seems to be a famous figure, so it might be best not to annoy him and sour the only flimsy contact I have with someone important."

Jared left his house with more effort than usual, each step felt like he was walking in three feet of snow, leaving him out of breath.

Exhausted, he leaned against the doorway of the library, as he checked the grandfather clock at the entrance. He found it was already past 2 pm, leaving him with just two hours to find the information he needed.

After asking the librarian for help, he found a few basic manuals on pokemon battling, hoping they would provide him with the necessary information. Skimming through the first book, he found what he needed and shook his head at himself for usually trying to do everything alone. The librarian seemed happy enough to assist him, and he made a mental note to make more use of their help in the future. Putting that thought aside, he finished reading the passage and summarized it in his mind to more easily digest what he had learned.

According to the book, pokemon are carriers of elemental power, while trainers act as amplifiers, but it is not as simple as just shouting out attack commands. To enhance a pokemon's prowess, a trainer must first think of themselves and their pokemon as one being, rather than separate individuals. By visualizing the gathering of elemental energy, you can feel the flow of power through the mystical bond. With practice, you can see the flowing elemental power. Once you are able to visualize, the next step is imbuement. While feeling the flow, simply say an attack in your pokemon's repertoire, and based on your talent level for that particular element, the move will receive an amplification.

"I wonder what my talent is with ghost Pokemon? Considering that all my other elements are trash, it's probably not good," Jared thought to himself. "After all, almost all strong trainers have multiple elements they are proficient in. Maybe the second book has some information about it?"

As he skimmed through the pages, Jared found precisely what he was seeking. Elemental talent was classified into six grades. F grade meant no capability to establish a mystical connection. D grade provided a 1-15% boost, C grade a 16-30% boost, B grade a 31-45% boost, and A grade a 46-60% boost. In unusual cases, such as through consuming natural treasures, it was even conceivable to boost output up to 100%. This was once referred to as the natural limit, but some people believed that heroes Ash and Gary had surpassed this limit. However, as they had not been seen in a century, it was impossible to verify.

"So many tomes keep mentioning these 'heroes', but who exactly are they? They couldn't possibly be the Ash and Gary from the old Pokemon anime I used to watch. After all, this world is vastly different from that fictional world... but if they are, maybe someone who transmigrated to Earth from this world used their names as characters in their shows as a sort of tribute... Could it be that this person was a fan of them? Someday, I might research Ash and Gary's history, but for now, I must concentrate on more pressing matters."

After the library closed, Jared headed back home and summoned Gastly once more. While Gastly floated there perplexedly, Jared gestured for Gastly to remain still. He then closed his eyes and attempted to focus. Disregarding his puzzled Pokemon, He started trying to sense Gastlys elemental energy.

However, despite his efforts, he still couldn't sense any connection with Gastly's elemental power. Jared opened his eyes with a sigh of frustration, "I'm not making any progress, but what am I doing wrong?"

Looking up into Gastly's eyes, Jared thought for a moment, then decided to try something new so he said, "Gastly, use Lick," while making a holding gesture. Though Gastly was perplexed as to why its trainer was commanding such a pointless task, it still complied by extending its tongue and channelling ghost energy into the slightly transparent appendage.

Jared closed his eyes once more and focused on trying to sense anything. As he concentrated on the tugging sensation, he had to hold back a small chuckle when he visualized Gastly's hilariously perplexed face as it strained to keep its tongue out.

However, despite spending a considerable amount of time, Jared still couldn't feel anything except the tugging sensation. So he decided to change his approach and focus on his own body instead of Gastly. He remembered reading in that book from earlier that it can be helpful to visualize your Pokemon as an extension of your body, rather than a separate entity.

Sadly, this technique didn't seem to be working either, so Jared continued experimenting. He gave up trying to visualize the end of the tugging thread and instead concentrated on his limbs. He raised his arm and began moving it in various directions, noticing that he could sense its position without relying on his eyesight. He knew exactly where it was in relation to the rest of his body, regardless of its position.

Of course Jared realized that this was something anyone could do, but it was a starting point for him, perhaps a lead? He then focused on his arm, starting from the shoulder, and tried to visualize how it was connected to his body. He followed the arm down to his biceps, then his elbow, up to his wrist, and finally visualized each finger.

Once he was able to hold that image in his mind, he progressed to visualizing things from the other direction. He began at his torso, moved down to his belly, then his waist, his knees, and all the way down to his toes.

With his entire body visualized, he suddenly attempted to go further. He visualized each hair on his body, attempting to follow each one to its very tip. After that, he began visualizing a long hair that extended from his body to the Pokemon he knew was in front of him. He knew what he was imagining wasn't actually real because, like the hairs on his body, they had no nerves. Nevertheless, that didn't prevent him from pretending.

However, while he was visualizing the long thread, he noticed the tugging sensation in his mind slowly merging with his imaginary thread. Then he began visualizing another thread, and another, but after ten imaginary threads, he found that he could no longer hold more in his mind. It was just too challenging, like attempting to draw a circle with your right hand and a square with your left at the same time, but he didn't want to give up the progress because he felt like he was onto something. While struggling to recreate the eleventh thread, he lost visual control of one of the others, but he was shocked to see that, even without visualizing it, he could still feel it, like a new limb that he had never noticed before!

Jared wasn't certain if the sensations he was experiencing were genuine or just in his imagination. So, while he concentrated with closed eyes, he made a beckoning gesture with his right hand, pointing upwards in the hope that Gastly would comprehend what he was asking.

To Jared's amazement, the threads began to move! Rather than being in front of him, he discovered that they were attached to something above him!

Next, he began to let go of his visualization of the previous threads, while quickly producing new ones. Soon, he could sense thousands of tiny threads, but he didn't stop there. He continued to create them at a rapid pace, like a spider spinning silk webs.

Despite producing countless imaginary threads, Jared was disheartened to find that he still couldn't feel what the threads were connected to. He couldn't sense the so-called elemental flow.

"Just like the hairs on my body" Jared thought to himself, "Maybe I can't feel them because each hair is too small, but perhaps that would change if they were thicker?"

Halting his rapid production of threads, Jared attempted to create a larger, higher quality thread. Despite his efforts, however, the threads he produced remained uniform in size. After considering his options, Jared decided to combine several threads together, hoping to create a stronger, more substantial strand. Although the result was still thinner than a human hair, it was a step in the right direction.

Undeterred, Jared turned his attention to the threads he had already created. He spent a lot of effort creating them, and wasn't going to waste them, so he began meticulously twisting each thread together, similar to how one would twist twine, until he had created a rope-like strand. Despite his efforts, he was still unable to feel anything on the other end. But Jared refused to give up, determined to achieve his goal. He continued adding individual threads to the rope, and as it grew in size, a hazy image began to appear. As he continued, the image became clearer and clearer until it was finally in focus in his minds eye.

In his mind it could have been a deep hole, But Jared felt it more resembled a deep well. But when he tried to look down it, he couldn't see the bottom. Since this was just in his mind, he didn't feel any danger, so he began diving down, trying to find its depth, but it seemed to go on forever. He began trembling from the cold, the well was deep and frigid. Despite its size, it was becoming so suffocating.

Gasping for breath, he attempted to climb out of the well, retracing his steps, but he could no longer locate the entrance. He was also surprised to discover that he was not descending so much as he was falling. He couldn't stop. Trying to open his eyes, he realized he could no longer sense his body, and he could only see the darkness below as he plummeted. "Oh God, I've made a terrible mistake," he cried.

As he fell deeper and deeper, he spotted something strange. It was like a tiny dot in the darkness, resembling two flickering fireflies, but as he drew nearer, he recognized that they were eyes. "Who are you?" he shouted, but the being appeared startled and ran away. Forgetting that he had been falling, Jared began pursuing the entity, unaware that the environment had completely changed.

It was no longer a deep well but rather a deserted alley. It wasn't until the figure ran into one of the houses and slammed the door that Jared realized he was standing right in front of his own housee. Confused and dazed, he looked around and then he noticed that the entity had entered the townhouse right next to his. Unbeknownst to him however, as soon as his eyes left his own home, the flash of recognition vanished, and his mind became consumed with finding the creature.

Storming up the steps, he charged through the door and slammed it shut behind him. "Where is that little troublemaker?" he muttered. Then he began rampaging through the house, smashing things in his anger. Suddenly, he heard crying coming from one of the cupboards, but it only made him more furious. "There you are, you little brat! I told you that the next time you disobeyed me, I was going to beat you until you learned your lesson, and I'm going to keep that promise."

Jared grabbed his cane, yanked the small child out of the cupboard, and began beating him. "Why can't you just listen for once? I work too hard to put up with this kind of shit!"

After venting, Jared felt much better. Tossing the cane aside he surveyed his handiwork with a sense of satisfaction. "That'll learn you." he smirked. Then As though it were a routine, he dragged the small figure up the stairs and flung the child onto the bed, slamming the door behind him.

Suddenly, Jared's perception of the surroundings changed, and he felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue and weakness wash over him. His entire body ached and he tried to distract himself from the pain by focusing on a strange sound. It was like a strange intermittent buzz, almost resembling the sound of a tiny insect fluttering its wings. He strained to open his blurry vision and noticed a small street light in the alley with a flickering bulb. He was drawn to the light, and began watching it for a while, but as exhaustion took hold, he found it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. 'I'm so tired he thought, but I'm not alone,' he thought, smiling faintly as he imagined that the street light was also growing sleepy alongside him, as his eyes began to close, the flickering intensified.

When he finally shut his weary eyes, the sound of the flickering faded away, no longer hearing the pleasant sound. Trying to open his eyes once more to see the fate of the street light, he found he could not. No matter how hard he tried, his heavy eyes were sealed closed. It was just one small wish. He felt aggrieved. He wanted to struggle, but he couldn't move. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't make a sound. He could only fade away, burying his small wish alongside him.

Suddenly, Jared opened his eyes with a gasp and sat up from his old and dirty mattress, but Gastly was nowhere to be found.

With wheezing breaths, he began instinctively steadying his breathing, while the haze cleared from his mind and the sleep from his eyes.

He then began recalling his last memory. "I was weaving threads, turning them into twine... then I remember falling down a deep hole... after that, I was chasing someone." Going deeper, he recollected feeling very angry. After that he was pulling a small, thin boy of no more than three out of a cupboard, and he was aghast to realize that he had begun beating the child. He remembered feeling tired and weak. Before he realized it, he found himself outside in his bare feet, gazing up at the street lamp in a daze.

Suddenly, the sound of a stray Meowth knocking over a trash can far in the distance jolted Jared back to reality as his gaze instinctively landed on the broken window adjacent to his home. But as expected, the window remained vacant and empty, just like it had always been, and perhaps it always would be.