"Stop it, Pikachu! S-stay away…! HELP… PLEASE HELP ME…!" Serena broke into loud wracking sobs that Clemont and Bonnie had become accustomed to over the last several minutes. Clemont scribbled furiously into his notepad, too absorbed in his research to pay attention to anything else. The sound of Clemont's pen mixed with the pounding rain and Serena's desperate cries created a hectic atmosphere. Pikachu was beside a still-quiet Ash, but his ears twitched with every name drop that Serena made. Judging by her word choices, her reason for calling out Pikachu's name wasn't a positive one. Fennekin was next to Serena – the only one brave enough to face her flailing body.

Ash, meanwhile, was lying perfectly still; it was as if the two had completely switched roles.

Bonnie watched quietly from the edge of the tent as Serena whimpered in her sleep and tossed from side to side in distress. Ever since they met, Bonnie had taken to viewing Serena as a big sister. It was disconcerting for the youngest member of the group to see Serena in pain. "I wish I could tell her it wasn't real…" Bonnie frowned. "Clemont, do you know how to wake them up yet?"

Clemont shook his head. "I'm getting there. I have some theories."

"Like what?"

Clemont finally paused in his writing to flip back a few pages. He cleared his throat. "Well, first of all, I believe it is safe to say that they are both dreaming."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "That's all you've figured out?"

"No," Clemont said, pausing to shoot his little sister a look before continuing. "This is crucial – dreaming only happens during REM sleep," Clemont flipped several pages of his notebook as he talked. "I would have thought a double sleep status would have landed both of them into a deeper stage, but that's beside my point."

Bonnie tipped her head. "…And what's your point?"

"REM sleep can create vivid dreams, so typically the body temporarily paralyzes itself during sleep to prevent, well…" He gestured to Serena as she thrashed suddenly to her left, causing Fennekin to jump out of the way with a squeak of surprise. "…to prevent injury." Clemont rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Ash hasn't moved in a while!" Bonnie pointed out.

Clemont sighed. "I know. The only thing I can figure is that he's at a deeper stage of REM than Serena is at the moment. But… why? And when you think back, Ash was originally acting very similar to how Serena - "

He was cut off by an ear-piercing shriek from Serena. Both Clemont and Bonnie winced and hastily looked over, but Serena was still asleep – albeit was now curled into a ball with her arms protectively covering her face.

Bonnie frowned and looked down. "She looks so scared, Clemont…"

"As I was saying, Ash was the same way…" Clemont hesitated and his eyes slowly widened.

Bonnie watched her brother skeptically. "Uh… Clemont?"

Clemont's glasses gleamed white, and he pushed them closer to his face with a smirk. "I think I understand… but to prove my theory, I'll need the help of…"

Bonnie gave an exasperated sigh. "Here it comes…"

"SCIENCE!"

…

"Pikachu?" Serena whimpered as her eyes tried and failed to adjust to the sudden darkness. She stayed as still as possible and listened intently, but couldn't hear anything aside from her own shaky breaths. She mustered up her courage, and took a single step forward –

Pikachu's head popped up directly in front of her, and she stumbled backward with a small cry of alarm. She fell and stared from the ground in terror at the face in front of her. "What's the matter, Serena?" Pikachu's high-pitched voice asked. His head floated in mid-air, and his body wasn't visible. Serena trembled and opened her mouth, but couldn't get any words out. Pikachu laughed, and his heads multiplied. The endless blackness was soon filled with cackling Pikachu heads.

"Stop it, Pikachu!" Serena begged. "S-stay away…!" One of the heads dove close, and Serena shrieked and hid her head in her arms. "HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Why would you be afraid of me?" The Pikachu heads asked in unison. Serena tearfully looked up, and struggled to focus on all of them at once. "I'm Ash's pokemon, aren't I?"

"Ash…" Serena muttered with wide eyes. If only Ash were here right now…

"You think Ash would help you?" The Pikachu heads started to circle around. "Why would Ash care about a pathetic girl like you?"

Serena could feel tears starting to trail down her face. She opened her mouth to respond, but her words caught in her throat.

"I know how you feel about him." The Pikachu heads made one last circle before recombining into a singular head. It stared maliciously at Serena with tiny fangs bared. "I know alllllll about your little crush, silly girl," he mocked, ending with a brief laugh.

Serena froze. "Y-you… what?"

"Don't act so surprised," Pikachu's head grinned and floated closer. Serena scrambled backwards. "Even that cute little girl you travel with has probably noticed. Her brother, too. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if even Ash knows by now!"

"N-no!" Serena squeaked. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel heat rising in her cheeks. "That's… that's not - !"

"I've known Ash for far longer than you, stupid girl," Pikachu taunted with a devilish grin. "What gives you the right to butt into his life? Ash doesn't need a girl who can't even train her own pokemon properly. What can you do right, Serena?!" He broke off with a terribly loud cackle, and Serena doubled over with her hands clamped over her ears.

"Stop it! Please stop!" Serena cried. "I-I-I…"

"HE'LL NEVER LOVE YOU BACK!"

The final line echoed across the chamber over and over. Serena had her eyes tightly shut and her arms covering them for good measure.

"Stop!" Serena repeated, her heart pounding in utter panic. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

…

Bonnie scampered away from Serena in alarm, then pouted at Clemont. "She told me to go away…"

Clemont was trying his best to ignore Serena's screams, and was focusing his attention on the pile of scrap metal in front of him. "She's not talking to you, Bonnie. I promise."

"Who's she talking to?"

Clemont sighed and placed his wrench down. "I don't know," he said, turning to face Bonnie. "But this invention is going to help us find out… I hope."

Bonnie tipped her head at the machine. Metal bars overlapped to create a vaguely half-dome shape. Judging by its size, it was meant to be worn on the head. Wires connected it to a separate metal box with ten lights that blinked periodically. "It's a hat?" Bonnie guessed, then her expression turned to horror. "Wait, what if it explodes on their heads?!"

"It won't," Clemont said proudly. "This one's different. Really!"

Bonnie watched her brother skeptically. "Well… what does it do then, if it doesn't explode?"

Clemont glared briefly at Bonnie before returning his full attention to his new device. "I call this the Emotion-Detector-During-Sleep-Device!"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Real creative, bro."

Clemont grinned and continued on. "I have a theory. It seems that a high level of emotion – seemingly fear or discomfort – is causing them to come out of their deeper levels of sleep. If I strap my invention to their head, like so…" He placed the device on Ash's head first, as he was the easier of the two to deal with at the moment. Pikachu tipped his head at the metal dome, but made no objections. "Now… power on!"

Clemont flicked a switch on the separate metal box, and a gauge on the front lit up two bars out of ten. "See? When Ash wears it, it says his emotional scale is only two out of ten. That's why he's being so still." Clemont glanced at Serena, who was sobbing hysterically. "As for Serena…"

"Be careful!" Bonnie warned as Clemont disconnected Ash from the device and cautiously approached Serena. Fennekin leapt to the side and watched anxiously as Clemont gently attached the metal dome to Serena's head.

Serena tossed violently to the right and whimpered, but the device stayed attached. Clemont brightened at his success. "Alright… time to test my theory!"

Clemont flicked the switch on the metal box, and this time six bars out of ten lit up. Clemont tapped his chin, a puzzled expression on his face. "Only six out of ten? …Is she exaggerating her emotions? How could she possibly be any more emotional?! She's been crying for the last twenty minutes!"

Bonnie crossed her arms and sighed. "I've never seen her so upset before! I think your device is faulty."

Clemont scowled at her. "That's impossible." He hastily checked the machine to be sure.

Serena flipped back to her other side and groaned. "Please…" Her cheeks were tear-stained, but Clemont noticed she had actually stopped crying.

"Hmm…" Clemont looked back at the device, which still read a six. "Maybe I was too late putting the Emotion-Detector-During-Sleep-Device on - "

"A-Ash…" Serena muttered, curling herself into a tighter ball. The machine beeped once, and Clemont looked over. To his surprise, the machine was now reading a seven out of ten.

"A seven…" Clemont muttered, raising an eyebrow at Serena. "But she seems calmer?"

"Ash…" Serena said again, her eyes still shut. "I… I forgive you… I know you would never hurt me."

Beep! Clemont looked over in bewilderment as the machine lit up another bar for a grand total of eight out of ten. "An eight?" Clemont furrowed his brow and reached for Serena's shoulder. "Serena! Serena, wake up!"

"Wake up, Serena!" Bonnie added, hurrying closer. "Please wake up! I miss you!"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin cried in agreement.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu bounded over as well, his eyes wide. "Pikachu!"

"An eight is pretty high... she should be able to wake up!" Clemont continued shaking Serena's arm. "Serena! Serena, can you hear me?"

"Ugh…" Serena groaned lightly, her eyes still shut. "Clemont…?"

Clemont and the others lit up. "Serena?!" Clemont called hopefully. "You're in a deep sleep; you have to try to wake up!"

"I… I don't….?" Serena's voice was weak and faint.

Beeeep!

Clemont looked in alarm at the machine's box, which was beginning to lose lights. "No!" he called in dismay as the bar settled on a three out of ten. Serena lay still once again, only her chest moving with her slow and steady breathing. Clemont groaned. "She was so close! She could hear me speaking to her!"

Bonnie frowned and patted Fennekin, who was looking utterly dismayed. "Guess this was another failed invention, huh bro?"

Clemont didn't respond, but did remove the device from Serena's head. He placed it aside and came back. He looked between Ash and Serena thoughtfully. "…Hmm…"

"What is it?" Bonnie asked.

Clemont jumped a bit, as if forgetting his sister was in the room. "I-I… I was just thinking…" He adjusted his glasses nervously. "I think I was on the right track, but…"

"…But…?"

Clemont hesitated, then went to grab his notebook and started flipping through it again. "I was thinking that all emotions would resonate on the same level, but I'm pretty sure I was wrong." He started scribbling in the notepad. "Extreme fear causes six out of ten…" he muttered to himself.

"Wasn't it an eight out of ten at the end, though?" Bonnie asked innocently.

Clemont cleared his throat nervously. "Y-yes, but…" He looked back at Serena, who was still sleeping quietly. He had never really thought about it before, but Serena's words had been directed at forgiving Ash, and that had caused her emotional scale to increase. Serena did seem to make a point of worrying about Ash, or walking next to Ash, or asking Ash how he felt about a new outfit of hers…

…On the other hand, Ash did tend to rush headlong into things without thinking, and Clemont usually walked next to Bonnie to be sure she didn't see a vivillon or something and get herself separated from the group so of course Serena and Ash would be left together, and heck if Serena was going to ask somebody in an electrician's jumpsuit for fashion advice.

Bonnie tipped her head. Clemont knew that she could sense his hesitation and was going to latch onto it – it was a terrible habit of hers. "Buuut what?" Bonnie asked.

Clemont sighed and resumed taking notes. "It's not important." It was a white lie for the sake of Ash and Serena – Arceus forbid Bonnie start proposing on their behalves, too. He warily stole a glance at Bonnie – she was pouting with her brow furrowed. That wasn't a good sign.

"Clemoooont," Bonnie whined, crossing her arms. "I'm not a little kid anymore! Tell me!"

Clemont shook his head. "I can't rush to conclusions. Not in a situation that concerns the lives of our friends." …He needed more research on whether Serena had a crush on Ash, then? Was he seriously going to look into this? Well, he couldn't argue with the evidence, and if it was truly the key to getting them to wake up…

Bonnie frowned, and for a moment Clemont feared she was going to argue more, but to his relief she turned her attention back to stroking Fennekin. "Okay, I guess you're right."

Clemont sighed lightly in relief, then raised his notebook once again. "Alright, for the sake of science and the lives of my friends… here goes nothing."

…

The darkness had flickered strangely before settling into a dull glow that faintly lit up the world around Serena. Pikachu vanished suddenly and mysteriously. Serena looked cautiously around, praying that this strange torture would be over.

"Serena! Serena, can you hear me?"

Another voice with no body echoed around the area – although, judging by the green tint to the ground, she now seemed to be outside. She recognized the voice. "Clemont?" she called, looking around the area in bewilderment.

"Serena?! You're in a deep sleep; you have to try to wake up!"

A deep sleep? Serena was puzzled by his words. She wasn't asleep, after all. "I… I don't understand what you mean!" she called back, still looking frantically around for him. As she focused her attention away from his voice, the area around her started glowing a brighter shade of green. The sun – still strangely large in the sky – hung ominously above her. It didn't appear to have changed any. Serena looked around herself and once again saw nothing but green grass and blue sky.

She sunk to the ground with a groan of despair. "I just wanna go back…" she sniffed and buried her head in her hands. "I don't want to be alone here anymore…" Where had Clemont's voice come from? And, more importantly, she still had no idea where Ash was and was starting to fear the worst. He had definitely been with her when they were battling before, until those strange rings had come flying at them…

Serena paused. She hadn't remembered that until just now. Ash had said that was a hypnosis attack – Serena knew that it put pokemon that it hit to sleep. So, if they had both been hit by hypnosis…

In an instant, Clemont's words about her being in a deep sleep made sense. Was this some kind of vivid dream? It was more like a nightmare. "Shouldn't I wake up if I know I'm asleep?" Serena asked the sky, as if hoping by vocalizing her theory that it would magically come true. The sky stayed as blue as ever, and the only moving from her spot that Serena accomplished was to flop onto her back with an exasperated sigh. Clemont had told her to try to wake up, but how was she supposed to go about doing that?

"Ash…" Serena stared upward and sighed. "I… I just hope you're okay…"

…

Crying - To dream that you are crying signifies a release of negative emotions that is more likely caused by some waking situation rather than the events of the dream itself. Your dream is a way to regain some emotional balance and to safely let out your fears and frustrations. In your daily lives, you tend to ignore, deny, or repress your feelings. But in your dream state, your defense mechanisms are no longer on guard and thus allow for the release of those feelings that you have repressed during the day.

Head - To see a head in your dream signifies wisdom, intellect, understanding and rationality.

Mice - To see mice in your dream indicates that you are spending too much time dwelling on minor problems and insignificant matters.

Yelling - To dream that you or someone is yelling represents repressed anger that needs to be expressed. If you are yelling and no one hears, then it suggests that you are being overlooked in some waking situation. You feel that your voice does not matter or that your opinion does not count.

In particular, hearing demonic yelling in your dream means there is something you thought you have left in the past that is still haunting you.