To be a Titan, you must face your worst nightmares.

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As soon as The ghost had floated up to the guild, Sorren left without a word. They traveled like this in silence. Sorren knew that Chia might have some questions, but he wanted to keep the mission a secret until the last moment.

As they traveled to the icy lands, Sorren smiled, it was snowing, he always loved the snow. As the forrest drew closer he spoke up.

"Alright, now's your chance to ask any questions, not that I'm going to answer some of them, mind you. This is also your last chance to turn back. I'm not going to tell you what we are facing today, so you have to take a risk." Sorren said, his breath visible with every word.

He was hoping to get The Duskull pumped up, work up an air of adventure. He did warn her however, That she would need to take a risk. Today she learns how to face her darkest parts. Sorren hoped he could do the same.

After the punch connected, everything became a blur.
There was screaming, there was screeching and there was shouting, although the Duskull had quite a bit of trouble of making out anything specific.
What the Ghost World was happening here? And was this a good thing or a bad thing?
Although the Ghost type had not consciously understood anything of what Sorren had said, or that it even was Sorren who had said these things, a single tear rolled down her blank skull.
And then the other Pokémon faded away, leaving only Chie and Sorren in this void of shadows.
Being directly addressed managed to break the Duskull out of her trance once again.
"Huh? Uh...what? Oh, I know Leer, Night Shade and Faint Attack. Sadly I haven't yet had the ability to master another move."

"Alright, cover me. I'm gonna try something. It might take some time. Don't know how useful Nightshade would be here. However it should be your best bet starting off, then if i make any progress it probably would be a good idea to switch to faint attack." Sorren said.

He fired an ember wide into the shadows. He left the rest to Chia. He sat down, and started using focus energy. He had used it several times as a meditative tool. A way to focus the efforts of him mind and body.

So he started to do just that. Pieces fell into place. He Started to identify individual fears, doubts and other inner demons. He started to see the landscape in his mind rather then his eyes. He focused. there was no fear here. there was no pain. he was better then that. fear had no control over him. As he started piecing things together the shadows got bold and lept for him. He put his Trust in Chia, he did not so much as flinch.

What in the love of a variety of colourful things was Sorren trying to do here?
Was he...meditating? In the middle of battle?
Sometimes the Ghost type simply did not understand the Torchic. And those sometimes were quite often to be honest.
But if they were going to form a team, they would have to trust each other. And maybe this was just a test or something. Well, Chie had work to do!
Lines of red, black and purple were drawn in from the dark environment, focussing in Chie's single eye.
The small light began glowing brighter and brighter, pulsating with a strange, terrifying energy.
Finally, just as it appeared, that the little orb would have to burst from the obvious pressure within, the energy was released, a spherical blast of ghostly terror let loose onto Sorren's mindscape.
Hopefully it would be able to keep the shadows at bay for now.

Sorren was now glowing with all the focus energy he was doing. He peiced together each fear, each doupt. the shadows grew smaller. Sorren focused harder. The world became blank, it's surface smoothed over by the effects of sorren's meditation.

Then a shadow stabbed sorren. Or it would have, if not for a figure standing in front of him. "So You bring your mom into this but no love for me?" It took the tendril of shadow out of it's chest and punched the Shadow, obliterating it. "Sorren, I want you to know that I'm proud of you. While I can't stay long I want to give you a gift. It's something that should rightly be yours. It's at the top of the tower, See you there"


"GAH!" Sorren bolted upright. He was back in the real world. and he was glowing. Must have used focus energy in the real world while he was dreaming as well. "Wait, what happened?"

"You won. Congratulations." The hypno said, not sure of himself.

"That was my dad, was that just another part of my mind, or was that my dad's ghost? I feel so confused." Sorren said, shaking his head. The last part made no sense. He had been able to get everything in place, he was going to get up and fight, but then his dad's memory or ghost or something beat him to it. Sorren layed back down. He just decided to rest there a bit longer. That was taxing.

Once more Chie got lost in what was happening.
First the shadows were repelled by her attack, but then one of them moved forward and stabbed something else.
The Duskull hadn't been able to make out any words, but it seemed to be important.
And then that something else pretty much destroyed all the shadows there in an instant.
And then, there was nothing.
Nothing but a wide, black void.
Before she could even remotely grasp, what had happened or was happening, the Ghost type suddenly was in the forest again.
Sorren was there and the Hypno was there.
"What happened?"

"We won?" Sorren said. "I don't really know myself. I was prepared to get in the fight when one of the shadows went for stabbing me, but it hit my father, or his memory, or his ghost or something."

Sorren really had nothing more to say, the hypno was scratching it's head as well. It was kinda anticlimactic, but Whatever had happened, they had succeeded at part of the mission. all that was left was doing Chia's turn.

"You...the...your father's ghost? That doesn't make sense...but then again it was inside of your mind, so logic might not apply there...".
It took the Duskull a while to understand the implications of what she had just said.
"Uh...no offense."
Now everything, that was left to do would be her turn.
What would it be like, actually being the target of such a trance instead of a mere spectator?
What would her fears be like?
It certainly would be ain interesting, frightening experience.
But it would not be one she would be shying away from.
Sorren had entrusted her with his mental safety, so she was prepared to do the same!
...hopefully.

"Right, well I'll go through this again since I may have given you a bit of amnesia, when in your mind, It will take you a while to realise things are amiss, like lucid dreaming, eventually you will need to wake up so to speak in order for your partner to help you, otherwise they can be brushed aside like any other part of a dream." The hypno said. "Anyway you will probably both forget this explanation again. either way you seemed to handle things fine on your own last time, now It's time for the ghost to go under."

Sorren sighed and laid down on the bedroll again. He would be there For Chia. He would get to know her by seeing her most tragic memories and most pronounced fears. And he probably won't even remember this train of thought. He- wait where was he? dangit.

This was it. There was no stepping back anymore.
Everything else could easily be learned about through books and studies.
But the world of her own mind?
Noone would ever be able to explore it except for herself.
As ironic as it may be, the Ghost type was afraid.
Slowly but surely the light in the Duskull's skull faded once more, her consciousness with it, being transferred into the most twisted depths of her mind.
And then it happened:

It was a town just like any other town on a day just like any other day.
Pokémon were chatting merrily with each other or going about their business in the sunlight.
About the only thing, that set this town apart from everything else, was the huge, black clocktower right in its very center. It seemed unnatural, as if it didn't belong here.
The clock struck twelve.
A deafening ring sounded throughout the landscape, but noone seemed to notice.
Chie's eye opened.
She was there, right in the middle of the town.
But why was she here? What business did she have here?
Maybe one of the Pokémon would know.
Cautiously she approached a group of Pokémon - an Omanyte, a Nincada and an Inkay.
But as soon as she got close to them, something incredible happened.
Rapidly, the Pokémon's skins began to wrinkle, their eyes turning milky and their entire composure losing all of their colour.
Finally the three collapsed on the ground, only empty shells of their former beings.
And soon a breeze came up, the shells disintegrating into dust and being blown away.

Chie's eye widened in shock as she realized, what this was about.
No, it simply could not be...
The bell rang.
Silently the ticking of a clock began to sound, slowly but surely.

With every Pokémon she approached, there was the same result, the fading, the shells, the dust. Each and every time the bell would ring and each and every time the ticking would speed up, becoming louder and louder, drowning out all other sounds.

It wasn't just Pokémon though.
Houses collapsed and rotted away.
Plants withered and died in her presence.
Everything disappeared into nothingness when she drew near.
And all the time the clock was ticking...

'So that's what she was hiding' Sorren thought. He had guessed that there was more to this ghost then She let on. So she feared the passage of time. As a mortal being of flesh and blood, Sorren couldn't understand the pain that living for centuries would cause.

Still, he knew loneliness. It took everything he had from reaching out to the Duskull, but he knew that he must let her be for now.

With Chie helplessly grasping at the dust in front of her, the spectacle continued.
New Pokémon, new things formed, all fading before Chie could even get close to them.
In the distance, the grey dust floated together in one dark, ominous cloud.
The Duskull, not even trying to move towards anyone or anything anymore, now found herself surrounded by books, her longtime companions.
From the dark cloud shapes separated. Dark, twisted images, many of them wielding horrific, dark scythes, bearing quite a resemblance to the grim reaper.
And the clock continued ticking.
Slowly but surely those shades grew closer, threatening to crush everything in their wake under their overwhelming despair.
Suddenly the books around Chie began to glow brightly, and from them figures arised as well.
Stalwart heroes in shining armor, wise leaders and brave heroes.
They all gathered around the Duskull storming forward to attack the creatures of darkness.
But nothing happened.
The heroes' attacks simply passed through the demons of Chie's mind and a single swipe of a blade was enough to reduce the defenders of hope to simple words, simple nothings again.
As permanent and everlasting the heroes of Chie's books, her only true friends may be, they still were only illusory.
They couldn't protect her from the pain.
Could anyone even protect her?

'With the passege of time Chia must have found escape in books, something permenent, something she could go back to time and time again.' Sorren thought. How did she even manage to come out of a library after all that? She hadn't asked for sorren's help yet, So he stayed where he was. But he couldn't just do nothing, he needed to be indirect with his help.

He started looking around, reading the books titles. they were all nonsense. part of the mind. maybe if he just picked a book from a section of the library, no books wouldn't be the answer. there must be something there! or maybe not there, maybe... He took his badge off his bag, a symbol of what it is Chia wants to be, and he slid it over in front of her.

Further and further the shadows progressed as Chie hid behind more and more of her books.
Both armies grew larger and larger, but the result stayed the same.
Chie's side didn't stand the slightest chance.
Then, throughout all of her defenses, the Duskull spotted something shiny.
It was a Rescue Badge.
But it was unable to rescue the Ghost type from herself.
Chie did not care much for exploration and even helping others only was a side benefit of joining the guild.
The only thing she truly longed for was a friend. A companion on her journey through life.
But what was the point of that if they were just going to fade like everything else?
Was it all meaningless?

(Chie has been keeping to herself for pretty much all her life. The very concept of asking for help still is too alien for her to actually do it.)

Sorren decided to speak up from the shadows, hopefully he wouldn't get swept away if his physcal form wasn't noticed.

"Everything fades away, You are no exception to that rule. Things change, people die, and people are born. Even if you are going to loose someone, isn't it better to have known them while they are there? to help you see things in a light you never saw them before. have them love you, have them be there for you. What does that badge mean to you?" Sorren said, his voice echoing through the cavernous library.

Sorren knew how much friendship could mean, and also how fleeting it could be. He may not have the most experience. He may not have studied friendship, but he still had friends. He could convince the duskull that Fleeting happiness is better then no happiness.

Through the wall of isolation and even over the sound of the ticking clock, Chie heard a faint voice.
It was the voice of Sorren, the Torchic.
The sentences he spoke were nothing new, though.
Oh, how often Chie had studied material on this matter and always had she found approaches like this one.
But never had she really understood the message they were trying to bring across.
But this time they felt...different. Was it, because there was an actual Pokémon behind them this time and not just a piece of paper?
Was it, because, despite his occassional idiocy Chie had grown to like Sorren?
Seemingly out of nowhere the shadows suddenly winced in pain.
But only a short time after that, their relentless assault continued.
Yet, it seemed as if the Pokémon around her...they appeared to persist longer.
They still only survived for a few seconds, but a change had occurred nonetheless.
And in the distance, behind enemy lines a tiny crack appeared in the clocktower...