trans-mish-in 9 {action}
[The following is not shown in the feed. If you wanna hop on the ACTION train, please wait 'till after this section's done so the space-time continuum and all that other fancy junk's still in order. o7]
[The following is also what YOU see and hear. Not what PEARLY sees and hears. ENOUGH NOTES THOUGH.]
[Pearly had just this morning been convinced that she'd been hallucinating, that Mystic Maya was still alive and Mr. Doe was, in fact, thus far innocent. Not that she trusted him.
She'd been quite shaken all day, so it probably didn't seem too suspicious at all when her gaze darted to the door--it had darted many places all day, looking for the supposed spirits that were tormenting them. But this time, she quietly got up and headed toward the bathroom area. No worries, right? It's just the bathroom.
Wrong.
Once there, she hauled herself up onto the sink and crawled out one of the windows. Following that, she scrambled around behind the Center, to the spot where she'd "seen" Mr. Doe murder Mystic Maya.
It was empty, but Pearly didn't seem to think so. She hesitated a moment, as if not sure how to act, before hurrying over and wrapping her arms around... the air? After her heartfelt hug was finished, she backed off a couple of steps, sinking down respectfully on her knees.]
I-... I missed you too, Mother.
[...]
I've been trying to keep up with my training, I promise! But it doesn't work, here...
[Another pause, and she looks to the side, slightly ashamed.]
I'm okay. But I can't sleep, and everyone's having these nightmares, and I wish I could make it all go away...
[In this pause, she looked up, slightly shocked.]
How, Mother?
[She 'listened' further, then she visibly dropped all hints of insecurity, and her hands balled into determined fists.]
I'll follow every word exactly. I promise.
[You could just about hear the 'good girl' her phantom matriarch commended, judging by the immediate relief on Pearl's face. She knows her mother did terrible things, but when it comes down to it, she can't say no to the woman who raised her and loved her so fiercely.
And this time, Pearly's silence was much longer. Afterward, she nodded once.]
Where, Mother?
[...]
I-... Yes, Mother. I'll start right now! B-but... stay with me? If they're strong enough to give everyone all these nightmares... I don't think I can handle them alone.
[Apparently, her 'mother' agreed, because she got up and hurried over to the trees, snapping off a few twigs. Enough to form four piles of kindling, which she lit with the matches from her pack.
Following that, she moved to sit crosslegged in the square the four piles of kindling had formed, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
And in the next half hour, a number of things happened:
1. Her travel-buddies proooobably noticed she was gone.
2. A good fifteen or twenty ghost-types came to swirl around the small clearing behind the Pokemon Center, giving anyone who ventured near a dark and helpless feeling. Like their body and mind wasn't their own, could be invaded at any time.
3. Though in her "nightmare", the four small piles of kindling stayed intact, in reality? They were slowly spreading outward in the twigs and such in the dirt she sat on, though it only barely licked inward toward where Pearly was sitting. Yes, this is the ten-year-old catching the area on fire. At least she didn't mean to?]
[The feed is coming from a good fifteen feet up. Gassy the Gastly had slipped out of her PokeBall (likely with the assistance of one of the many ghost-type now congregating behind the Pokemon Center, swirling and diving around a little girl in the center of a ring of fire) and decided to give Johto a bit of a show.
Three things would be quite obvious in the video:
1. There are a heck of a lot of Ghost-type Pokemon, and they seem to be drawn in like moths to a flame to Pearl, who can be seen sitting crosslegged with her eyes closed, deep in concentration.
2. There's a heck of a lot of fire. She's surrounded in a vaguely square-shaped ring of flame, growing larger by the minute. It seems to be hellbent on not touching her though, instead focusing solely on spreading outward. She doesn't seem to notice.
3. ...I forgot number three, fml.
ACTION for anyone in Violet. VOICE/VIDEO for anyone else, though she won't respond until she comes out of it and has recovered, meaning at least a couple of hours later.
And how is this a nightmare? Well, she let her mother lead her into a plan that would hurt other people before. And Mystic Maya's just inside the Center... She's afraid of being accidentally turned against the people she loves. So yeah, this is a nightmare for sure. Just not the ordinary kind.]