Story Notes:
I enjoyed writing this one, it's a little different to my average 'damsel in distress' plot that I've gotten into the habit of writing. Comments would be awesome, though I don't expect them.
Happy Place
Vere, a young Riolu who had recently been adopted by an officer Jenny, had had a rough life. His first master, a human modelling star with an ego the size of a truck, had been cruel and merciless. She'd underfed him and not given him much drink, left him freezing in the cold winter months that she'd had him with no real bedding besides a small, old pillow with almost no stuffing left and that had been stained with a combination of dirt, tears and his own blood from the torture that she had put him through. He knew dozens of ways to inflict pain without killing, simply because he had endured. Wooden horses, a stretching rack, even something as innocuous as a hook in the ceiling from which a bag he was suspended in would be hung for her to beat on him.
Other than the room in which he was tortured, which he had overheard Jenny say was a secret and hidden room, the house had been immaculate.
Jenny's house, however...
The carpets in Jenny's home were supposed to be red, yet they had a light orange and white haze over the top from Fudo's fur coat. Dust covered a fair amount of the surfaces, and the dishes in the kitchen hadn't been cleaned in possibly a week or more. The bin in the kitchen smelled horrid, and probably also hadn't been out in a week or so. The bedding in the house was also slightly dirty, and there was a basket of clothes waiting to be washed in the laundry. Vere had been in a state of near shock since he was brought in the first room, but the rest of the house only made him look up at Jenny questioningly and she had simply given him a reassuring smile.
"I'm sorry for the mess." She said. "Fudo sheds in winter, and I've not had much time to clean with all the activity that's been going on lately. But, for the night, I'll lay out a futon in my room and you can sleep there; tomorrow, you and Max can stay behind to clean the place up a bit, hm?"
He nodded shyly, and she shifted him to one arm while she released her Arcanine and Gallade, Fudo and Max. They stretched, Fudo adding a lazy yawn to his motion, and Jenny put their Poke Balls into her pocket.
"Alrght, boys." She began, holding Vere on her hip. "I'm going to go have a shower and get cleaned up. Fudo, I want you to fetch out the vaccuum cleaner for tomorrow, and Max I would like you to pull out the spare futon in my room, then put the rubbish bin out. Vere got a bit..."
"Wretchy?" Max offered.
"Nauseous." Jenny said. "You may need to give the bin itself a good clean with the garden hose. Also, you're staying here with Vere tomorrow to help him get the jidst of what he'll be doing, alright?"
"Yeah, I've no problem with that."
"What can I do?" Vere asked, looking up at Jenny eagerly.
She smiled down at him, giving the Riolu a playful jostle. "You can go through the dirty washing and sort the light clothes from the darks." She said. "You don't need to stand for it, and it's easy. Fudo can give you help should you need it."
Jenny grabbed the laundry hamper and dragged it to the living room, promptly dumping its contents onto the carpet, putting Vere next to the pile.
"Basic idea is to simply sort the clothes into two piles." She said, lifting a white bra and black shirt. "Because if we wash the dark clothes with the bright ones, we'd end up staining white clothes different colours." She put the articles she held on opposite sides of the mound of clothes, and Vere nodded.
"Okay." He said, grabbing a few dark clothes and gently tossing them ontop of the shirt.
"Some shirts might be bright, but have a picture or logo on the front in colours." Jenny said. "These go into the bright pile, because the colours in their designs don't run." He nodded as he continued sorting the mound and she smiled. "Just keep at it, okay? I'll come back once I'm dressed and we can put the first load of washing in."
He nodded, somewhat engrossed in what he was doing, and she smiled before walking off to the bathroom. What she didn't hear, as she shut the bathroom door, was him sniffle.
'I know it seems unfair, Vere.' The sound of Max's voice rang in his head, causing the pup to yip and jump in momentary shock. 'I'm talking to you telepathically, please don't be alarmed.' He reassured. 'Again, I know it seems unfair, but we were unprepared for a new addition to the house so soon. Had we been aware that we were going to adopt you, the house would be clean.' Max walked in the door with the now empty bin, a light smattering of water over his front. "Don't worry too much, we'll give you a good welcome soon enough."
He leaned down and gave Vere a gentle scratch behind his ear before walking back into the kitchen, where Vere heard him complain about being wet.
A few minutes later, and Vere had finished sorting the clothes. Fudo, though seeming lazily dopey and oblivious to most things that happened around him, proved to be a highly intelligent male, and he double-checked the piles to make sure that Vere hadn't missed any by mistake. Content that everything was fine, the large male went and found a cold spot in the house to lounge in and warm the dwelling from. Soon enough Jenny came out of the shower, giving the clothes a moment's scrutiny before hanging her towel on a wooden chair to dry. Vere, having gently dozed off ontop of one of the piles, found himself being shovelled into the hamper. He didn't protest, however; he was still comfortable enough. From here, he and the washing were heaped into the frontloader washing machine. He didn't understand what was going on when the door shut, but when the washer started filling with water, he whined and tapped the glass window.
"...Jenny?" He pined. "Jenny? I want to come out... Jenny..?"
She didn't return, probably not hearing him over the sound of the washer filling. His knocking became more frantic as the water filled gently to his neck.
Then the first washing cycle began.
Jenny entered the kitchen wondering where Vere had gotten to. She remembered seeing him in the lounge room, but hadn't seen him since.
"... Maybe he's with Fudo?" She mumbled to herself.
She turned back into the family room when she heard a panicked yell from the laundry, then watched Max frantically run to her.
"What's-"
"Grab a towel!" He snapped. "Vere's in the washer!"
Jenny gave a start, and her slightly disbelieving eyes went wide. "He what?!" She snapped at him as he scurried back to the laundry in a panic.
"You must've put him in there on accident with the washing!" Max shouted from the laundry. "Hurry up, grab a towel, he's not got much air left!"
Jenny, now in 'panic mode' ran to the linen cupboard and grabbed a towel, almost spilling several more onto the floor in her frightened haste to rush to the laundry. As she arrived, Max slapped a hand to the glass.
"Ready?" He called. "It's hard to do this, expect him to be airborne! One, two, three!"
There was a split second where the world seemed to be slowed down until a gentle, yet wet, pop sounded and Jenny caught Vere in mid-fall. He had appeared almost right infront of her, his fur now mismatched and matted from the churning soap filled water. For a moment or two he seemed not to be breathing, but then he coughed up water onto the tiled floor and took a few sharp, ragged breaths before breaking down into terrified crying. Jenny wrapped him up in the towel and held him tightly to her sholder as he cried.
"I'm so sorry, Vere!" She said into his ear. "I didn't realise you were there! It's been so long since I've had a young Pokemon that I didn't even think to check, I'm so sorry!"
Vere calmed down slowly as she rubbed his back through the towel, but he still shivered and hiccupped horribly. Jenny gave a gentle, and somewhat apologetic, sigh.
"Well, I wasn't exactly planning on it, but now it looks like I'll have to give you a bath to get the soap out of your fur, else it will clot and itch." She mumbled to the upset pup. "That means more water." She said carefully, as if warning him. "Alrght?"
Vere didn't talk, he only nodded sadly, and Jenny carried him to the bathroom.
Jenny sat Vere at the bathroom sink, taking the towel off of him and inspecting the damage that the washer may have done to him. He had a bruise on his head, only a small one, and she took a small metal cup from the cupboard below the sink and put it to the bruise, letting the metal cool his injury before she turned the sink tap on and let the basin fill. She squeezed a little Pokemon soap into the filling basin, getting it to froth slightly before she turned the faucet off, and then she lifted Vere to the water.
"Put your paw in and tell me if it is too hot?" She asked. He gingerly put one of his feet in, testing the water before nodding.
"It's okay." He mumbled quietly and miserably before promptly being sat in the chest high warm water. He gave a quiet yip, but Jenny's hands holding onto his shoulders reassured him slightly.
"Shhh, don't panic, I'm right here." She said, gently massaging water over his shoulders and back, rubbing it deep into his fur. "See, this isn't so bad is it?" She asked after a short while. Vere shook his head and leaned into her hands as she scrubbed. "You like that, do you?" She asked, to which he nodded furiously. Jenny, growing slightly bolder at how he was opening up to her, got a cheeky grin. "How about this then?!" She asked teasingly, lowering her hands and tickling his sides. Just as she predicted, he writhed in her grip in a vain attempt to escape her tickling fingers. "Nu-uh, you're not getting away until I get a laugh!" She teased.
She kept tickling him for a while, until he was too tired to do anything but laugh, and she finished bathing him after he had settled down. After rinsing him off and draining the sink, she wrapped him up in a towel and held him up to her shoulder, drying him with rough yet gentle strokes. Her stroking and the warmth that the water had put into him, coupled with now being exhausted from the tickling, put him to sleep on her shoulder. She didn't notice until she heard him snore quietly, and she looked at him in mild surprise.
"He's had a long day." Max's voice called from the laundry, where he was drying the floor.
"Did you put the futon out?" Jenny quietly asked. Max nodded. "Alright. Tell Fudo to be quieter this evening, Vere is likely to be asleep all night."
Max nodded in silent agreement. 'Yknow, this might be a good opportunity to see his subconsious thoughts.' He telepathically sent. 'Maybe I could get a better idea on his personality by watching his dreams tonight?'
Jenny nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." She said, tucking vere into the futon.
' 'Course it's a good idea!' Max's voice grumbled in her head.
"Just be careful, Max." Jenny warned. "Though he's only little, he's already showing symptoms of an avoidant personality, and I've no doubt that his dreams will be little more than nightmares."
Max only smiled. 'I'm always careful.'
After telling Fudo, who was dozing in a distant room, that he needed to be quiet for the night, Max found a comfortable place in the house to sit. From the lounge, he sat and calmly reached out to Vere's young mind, taping into the puppy's dreams and starting to follow the flow. He closed his eyes and allowed the dreams of the young Riolu to project into his vision.
His first reaction was to snap wide awake and rush to the bathroom, throwing up into the porcelain throne.
'Arceus, how can he stand such dreams?' He thought to himself. 'I know she abused him, but...'
Jenny, at hearing his disgruntled stomach, strolled into the bathroom and gave him a critical look. "What's wrong this time?" She asked. Max gave her a grim, slightly horrified look before flushing and washing his mouth out.
'His dreams.' Max said telepathically. 'There is only one way to be sure, though.'
Max moved through to where Vere was sleeping and looked into the face of the young pup. He seemed... serene. With a sigh, Max tapped back into Vere's dreams and watched the horrors within flow again, giving a violent shudder at the visions.
'How can he possibly tolerate such horrors..?' Max asked quietly to Jenny. 'It's as if, every night, he relives that torture over and over.'
"He's got to sleep through something, Max." Jenny whispered. "He'd die otherwise. All we can do is hope that this doesn't manifest into something worse in later life."
Max continued watching until the visions not only changed, but changed into him watching himself through Vere's eyes. His eyes snapped open and he looked down at the young Riolu, who only stared back.
"What're you doing?" Vere asked sleepily, rubbing an eye.
Max didn't know what to reply for a moment, deciding whether a lie or the truth would be better for him to hear. He decided that being truthful would most likely be the wiser option.
'Watching your dreams.' He said within the pup's head. 'They are most... disquieting. Do you dream of anything else?'
Vere paused to think. "Not really."
'How can you sleep through such nightmares?'
"It's the only way I know how to sleep." Vere said, without a single trace of doubt. "Why?"
Max sighed, reaching down and lifting the still dozy Riolu from the futon, wrapping him in the blanket. 'Because they are not good for you.' He said, tapping Vere's nose cutely. 'Sleep in my room for the night, allow me to help you; trust me, you can get much better sleep than you are.'
"Sleep sounds good." Vere mumbled into Max's shoulder. Max smiled, telekinetically lifting Vere's pillow from the futon and picking it from the air with his free hand.
'You can sleep, Vere.' He said calmly. 'The nightmares will go soon.'
"You promise?"
'Yeah.' Max replied, rubbing his cheek against the back of Vere's head gently. 'I promise.'
Gently Max lay Vere on the couch in his room, putting his small head on the pillow he carried with him and taking a moment to carry Vere's stuffed Raichu to him and tuck it into the blankets with him.
'Now, Vere;' Max began, taking on a serious tone, 'I need you to relax your mind as you sleep. Don't think about anything, not even that I'm here. Just let your mind go completley vacant, and I'll steer your dreams while you sleep.'
Vere only nodded, and Max soon heard him give his first deep breath, the indicator of sleep he needed.
He moved into his own bed, pulled the sheets over himself, rolled to face Vere, and sent his consiousness into Vere's head.
Max's first vision was of darkness. Swirling, concentrated and void of all but himself and, for what he could see, a small Riolu a short distance from himself. He moved forth to the Riolu, who seemed to be looking about in a half-daze.
"Vere?" He probed.
"Max?" Vere asked, spinning around. "Wh-where are we?"
"This is your unconscious mind." Max replied. "In here your brain creates dreams based on your life to help you cope with the passing of the hours that you sleep. Without dreams, it would be difficult for us to be able to understand how so many hours have passed while asleep, and as such our minds give us a sort of 'in-flight-movie' to give us something to excuse it."
Vere seemed to consider this. "So why is it so empty?" He asked.
Max chuckled. "For most of our sleep, our brain is focusing on processing and storing memories, only the last twenty minutes or so of sleep actually involve dreams. A by-product of the memory process affects our dreams. Unfortunately, your memories comprise almost entirely of horrid tortures and pain, and as such I'm going to directly implant happier thoughts into your subconscious."
"Will that work..?"
Max shrugged before lifting the small Riolu into his arms. "I'm not sure." He said. "I've never tried it before." He looked about for a moment before talking again. "I think we should start with something familiar." He said. After a moment of consentration, a stuffed Raichu toy appeared near them, and Max smiled. "There we go." He said with satisfaction. "Now, let's make more."
He closed his eyes and raked through his mind, taking memories of Pokemon species and turning them more... cuddly. There were hundreds that he knew of, spanning sizes and shapes, ages and powers, but a select few of them he didn't need to manifest. Those that were frightening, such as Gengar or Spiritomb, or frankly too dangerous such as Onix and Gyarados, he was purposefully keeping out of the mix.
It took what felt like minutes before he snapped his eyes open with a smile.
"How about this?"
A massive Wailord appeared below them, soft and bouncy, its body like a giant trampoline beneath them. From above, four walls thundered down, walling off the sides of the Wailord, and turning a soothing blue. Then it started raining.
A stuffed version of almost every Pokemon that Max had encountered came falling down with soft taps or thuds, bouncing off the Wailord's back or off a shield above the two dreamers. Soft felt, smooth silk, even stretchy rubber, came raining down like cute hailstones.
"Welcome to your happy place." Max said, jostling Vere gently.
"Happy place?"
Max nodded. "Yeah. This is where, whenever you are especially angry or upset, you should think of to calm yourself down." He said, lifting the Raichu plush from infront of them and handing it to Vere. "You've not many happy thoughts or memories, so I've focused on the one happiest memory you have that you can link to the real world, and expanded from there. You should remember, always, that here is safe. Nothing bad should ever happen to you here. Not ever. The world outside could be raining fire, but this room should always stay safe."
Vere seemed to consider this, eying the stuffed toys curiously.
"Remember, Vere, anything can happen in a dream." Max said. "Anything you want to happen, so long as you can imagine it, can happen. Watch."
Max pointed to a pile of fuzz, stuffing and silk, and the pile came alive. The Pokemon toys seemed to consider their existance before they started to simply dawdle about aimlessly. He moved forward and lifted one of them, a Mareep, and it struggled in his grip like a real Pokemon would.
"You see?" Max asked, putting the Mareep down and letting it run off to the other moving toys, giving them glances over its shoulder. "Nothing here can hurt you unless you let it, this place exists entirely for you. Fill it with things that make you feel happy or safe."
"Th-thank you Max..."
"Not at all, Vere." Max said, putting him down and watching him run off to play with a smile on his face.
"You are most welcome."
Other than the room in which he was tortured, which he had overheard Jenny say was a secret and hidden room, the house had been immaculate.
Jenny's house, however...
The carpets in Jenny's home were supposed to be red, yet they had a light orange and white haze over the top from Fudo's fur coat. Dust covered a fair amount of the surfaces, and the dishes in the kitchen hadn't been cleaned in possibly a week or more. The bin in the kitchen smelled horrid, and probably also hadn't been out in a week or so. The bedding in the house was also slightly dirty, and there was a basket of clothes waiting to be washed in the laundry. Vere had been in a state of near shock since he was brought in the first room, but the rest of the house only made him look up at Jenny questioningly and she had simply given him a reassuring smile.
"I'm sorry for the mess." She said. "Fudo sheds in winter, and I've not had much time to clean with all the activity that's been going on lately. But, for the night, I'll lay out a futon in my room and you can sleep there; tomorrow, you and Max can stay behind to clean the place up a bit, hm?"
He nodded shyly, and she shifted him to one arm while she released her Arcanine and Gallade, Fudo and Max. They stretched, Fudo adding a lazy yawn to his motion, and Jenny put their Poke Balls into her pocket.
"Alrght, boys." She began, holding Vere on her hip. "I'm going to go have a shower and get cleaned up. Fudo, I want you to fetch out the vaccuum cleaner for tomorrow, and Max I would like you to pull out the spare futon in my room, then put the rubbish bin out. Vere got a bit..."
"Wretchy?" Max offered.
"Nauseous." Jenny said. "You may need to give the bin itself a good clean with the garden hose. Also, you're staying here with Vere tomorrow to help him get the jidst of what he'll be doing, alright?"
"Yeah, I've no problem with that."
"What can I do?" Vere asked, looking up at Jenny eagerly.
She smiled down at him, giving the Riolu a playful jostle. "You can go through the dirty washing and sort the light clothes from the darks." She said. "You don't need to stand for it, and it's easy. Fudo can give you help should you need it."
Jenny grabbed the laundry hamper and dragged it to the living room, promptly dumping its contents onto the carpet, putting Vere next to the pile.
"Basic idea is to simply sort the clothes into two piles." She said, lifting a white bra and black shirt. "Because if we wash the dark clothes with the bright ones, we'd end up staining white clothes different colours." She put the articles she held on opposite sides of the mound of clothes, and Vere nodded.
"Okay." He said, grabbing a few dark clothes and gently tossing them ontop of the shirt.
"Some shirts might be bright, but have a picture or logo on the front in colours." Jenny said. "These go into the bright pile, because the colours in their designs don't run." He nodded as he continued sorting the mound and she smiled. "Just keep at it, okay? I'll come back once I'm dressed and we can put the first load of washing in."
He nodded, somewhat engrossed in what he was doing, and she smiled before walking off to the bathroom. What she didn't hear, as she shut the bathroom door, was him sniffle.
'I know it seems unfair, Vere.' The sound of Max's voice rang in his head, causing the pup to yip and jump in momentary shock. 'I'm talking to you telepathically, please don't be alarmed.' He reassured. 'Again, I know it seems unfair, but we were unprepared for a new addition to the house so soon. Had we been aware that we were going to adopt you, the house would be clean.' Max walked in the door with the now empty bin, a light smattering of water over his front. "Don't worry too much, we'll give you a good welcome soon enough."
He leaned down and gave Vere a gentle scratch behind his ear before walking back into the kitchen, where Vere heard him complain about being wet.
A few minutes later, and Vere had finished sorting the clothes. Fudo, though seeming lazily dopey and oblivious to most things that happened around him, proved to be a highly intelligent male, and he double-checked the piles to make sure that Vere hadn't missed any by mistake. Content that everything was fine, the large male went and found a cold spot in the house to lounge in and warm the dwelling from. Soon enough Jenny came out of the shower, giving the clothes a moment's scrutiny before hanging her towel on a wooden chair to dry. Vere, having gently dozed off ontop of one of the piles, found himself being shovelled into the hamper. He didn't protest, however; he was still comfortable enough. From here, he and the washing were heaped into the frontloader washing machine. He didn't understand what was going on when the door shut, but when the washer started filling with water, he whined and tapped the glass window.
"...Jenny?" He pined. "Jenny? I want to come out... Jenny..?"
She didn't return, probably not hearing him over the sound of the washer filling. His knocking became more frantic as the water filled gently to his neck.
Then the first washing cycle began.
Jenny entered the kitchen wondering where Vere had gotten to. She remembered seeing him in the lounge room, but hadn't seen him since.
"... Maybe he's with Fudo?" She mumbled to herself.
She turned back into the family room when she heard a panicked yell from the laundry, then watched Max frantically run to her.
"What's-"
"Grab a towel!" He snapped. "Vere's in the washer!"
Jenny gave a start, and her slightly disbelieving eyes went wide. "He what?!" She snapped at him as he scurried back to the laundry in a panic.
"You must've put him in there on accident with the washing!" Max shouted from the laundry. "Hurry up, grab a towel, he's not got much air left!"
Jenny, now in 'panic mode' ran to the linen cupboard and grabbed a towel, almost spilling several more onto the floor in her frightened haste to rush to the laundry. As she arrived, Max slapped a hand to the glass.
"Ready?" He called. "It's hard to do this, expect him to be airborne! One, two, three!"
There was a split second where the world seemed to be slowed down until a gentle, yet wet, pop sounded and Jenny caught Vere in mid-fall. He had appeared almost right infront of her, his fur now mismatched and matted from the churning soap filled water. For a moment or two he seemed not to be breathing, but then he coughed up water onto the tiled floor and took a few sharp, ragged breaths before breaking down into terrified crying. Jenny wrapped him up in the towel and held him tightly to her sholder as he cried.
"I'm so sorry, Vere!" She said into his ear. "I didn't realise you were there! It's been so long since I've had a young Pokemon that I didn't even think to check, I'm so sorry!"
Vere calmed down slowly as she rubbed his back through the towel, but he still shivered and hiccupped horribly. Jenny gave a gentle, and somewhat apologetic, sigh.
"Well, I wasn't exactly planning on it, but now it looks like I'll have to give you a bath to get the soap out of your fur, else it will clot and itch." She mumbled to the upset pup. "That means more water." She said carefully, as if warning him. "Alrght?"
Vere didn't talk, he only nodded sadly, and Jenny carried him to the bathroom.
Jenny sat Vere at the bathroom sink, taking the towel off of him and inspecting the damage that the washer may have done to him. He had a bruise on his head, only a small one, and she took a small metal cup from the cupboard below the sink and put it to the bruise, letting the metal cool his injury before she turned the sink tap on and let the basin fill. She squeezed a little Pokemon soap into the filling basin, getting it to froth slightly before she turned the faucet off, and then she lifted Vere to the water.
"Put your paw in and tell me if it is too hot?" She asked. He gingerly put one of his feet in, testing the water before nodding.
"It's okay." He mumbled quietly and miserably before promptly being sat in the chest high warm water. He gave a quiet yip, but Jenny's hands holding onto his shoulders reassured him slightly.
"Shhh, don't panic, I'm right here." She said, gently massaging water over his shoulders and back, rubbing it deep into his fur. "See, this isn't so bad is it?" She asked after a short while. Vere shook his head and leaned into her hands as she scrubbed. "You like that, do you?" She asked, to which he nodded furiously. Jenny, growing slightly bolder at how he was opening up to her, got a cheeky grin. "How about this then?!" She asked teasingly, lowering her hands and tickling his sides. Just as she predicted, he writhed in her grip in a vain attempt to escape her tickling fingers. "Nu-uh, you're not getting away until I get a laugh!" She teased.
She kept tickling him for a while, until he was too tired to do anything but laugh, and she finished bathing him after he had settled down. After rinsing him off and draining the sink, she wrapped him up in a towel and held him up to her shoulder, drying him with rough yet gentle strokes. Her stroking and the warmth that the water had put into him, coupled with now being exhausted from the tickling, put him to sleep on her shoulder. She didn't notice until she heard him snore quietly, and she looked at him in mild surprise.
"He's had a long day." Max's voice called from the laundry, where he was drying the floor.
"Did you put the futon out?" Jenny quietly asked. Max nodded. "Alright. Tell Fudo to be quieter this evening, Vere is likely to be asleep all night."
Max nodded in silent agreement. 'Yknow, this might be a good opportunity to see his subconsious thoughts.' He telepathically sent. 'Maybe I could get a better idea on his personality by watching his dreams tonight?'
Jenny nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." She said, tucking vere into the futon.
' 'Course it's a good idea!' Max's voice grumbled in her head.
"Just be careful, Max." Jenny warned. "Though he's only little, he's already showing symptoms of an avoidant personality, and I've no doubt that his dreams will be little more than nightmares."
Max only smiled. 'I'm always careful.'
After telling Fudo, who was dozing in a distant room, that he needed to be quiet for the night, Max found a comfortable place in the house to sit. From the lounge, he sat and calmly reached out to Vere's young mind, taping into the puppy's dreams and starting to follow the flow. He closed his eyes and allowed the dreams of the young Riolu to project into his vision.
His first reaction was to snap wide awake and rush to the bathroom, throwing up into the porcelain throne.
'Arceus, how can he stand such dreams?' He thought to himself. 'I know she abused him, but...'
Jenny, at hearing his disgruntled stomach, strolled into the bathroom and gave him a critical look. "What's wrong this time?" She asked. Max gave her a grim, slightly horrified look before flushing and washing his mouth out.
'His dreams.' Max said telepathically. 'There is only one way to be sure, though.'
Max moved through to where Vere was sleeping and looked into the face of the young pup. He seemed... serene. With a sigh, Max tapped back into Vere's dreams and watched the horrors within flow again, giving a violent shudder at the visions.
'How can he possibly tolerate such horrors..?' Max asked quietly to Jenny. 'It's as if, every night, he relives that torture over and over.'
"He's got to sleep through something, Max." Jenny whispered. "He'd die otherwise. All we can do is hope that this doesn't manifest into something worse in later life."
Max continued watching until the visions not only changed, but changed into him watching himself through Vere's eyes. His eyes snapped open and he looked down at the young Riolu, who only stared back.
"What're you doing?" Vere asked sleepily, rubbing an eye.
Max didn't know what to reply for a moment, deciding whether a lie or the truth would be better for him to hear. He decided that being truthful would most likely be the wiser option.
'Watching your dreams.' He said within the pup's head. 'They are most... disquieting. Do you dream of anything else?'
Vere paused to think. "Not really."
'How can you sleep through such nightmares?'
"It's the only way I know how to sleep." Vere said, without a single trace of doubt. "Why?"
Max sighed, reaching down and lifting the still dozy Riolu from the futon, wrapping him in the blanket. 'Because they are not good for you.' He said, tapping Vere's nose cutely. 'Sleep in my room for the night, allow me to help you; trust me, you can get much better sleep than you are.'
"Sleep sounds good." Vere mumbled into Max's shoulder. Max smiled, telekinetically lifting Vere's pillow from the futon and picking it from the air with his free hand.
'You can sleep, Vere.' He said calmly. 'The nightmares will go soon.'
"You promise?"
'Yeah.' Max replied, rubbing his cheek against the back of Vere's head gently. 'I promise.'
Gently Max lay Vere on the couch in his room, putting his small head on the pillow he carried with him and taking a moment to carry Vere's stuffed Raichu to him and tuck it into the blankets with him.
'Now, Vere;' Max began, taking on a serious tone, 'I need you to relax your mind as you sleep. Don't think about anything, not even that I'm here. Just let your mind go completley vacant, and I'll steer your dreams while you sleep.'
Vere only nodded, and Max soon heard him give his first deep breath, the indicator of sleep he needed.
He moved into his own bed, pulled the sheets over himself, rolled to face Vere, and sent his consiousness into Vere's head.
Max's first vision was of darkness. Swirling, concentrated and void of all but himself and, for what he could see, a small Riolu a short distance from himself. He moved forth to the Riolu, who seemed to be looking about in a half-daze.
"Vere?" He probed.
"Max?" Vere asked, spinning around. "Wh-where are we?"
"This is your unconscious mind." Max replied. "In here your brain creates dreams based on your life to help you cope with the passing of the hours that you sleep. Without dreams, it would be difficult for us to be able to understand how so many hours have passed while asleep, and as such our minds give us a sort of 'in-flight-movie' to give us something to excuse it."
Vere seemed to consider this. "So why is it so empty?" He asked.
Max chuckled. "For most of our sleep, our brain is focusing on processing and storing memories, only the last twenty minutes or so of sleep actually involve dreams. A by-product of the memory process affects our dreams. Unfortunately, your memories comprise almost entirely of horrid tortures and pain, and as such I'm going to directly implant happier thoughts into your subconscious."
"Will that work..?"
Max shrugged before lifting the small Riolu into his arms. "I'm not sure." He said. "I've never tried it before." He looked about for a moment before talking again. "I think we should start with something familiar." He said. After a moment of consentration, a stuffed Raichu toy appeared near them, and Max smiled. "There we go." He said with satisfaction. "Now, let's make more."
He closed his eyes and raked through his mind, taking memories of Pokemon species and turning them more... cuddly. There were hundreds that he knew of, spanning sizes and shapes, ages and powers, but a select few of them he didn't need to manifest. Those that were frightening, such as Gengar or Spiritomb, or frankly too dangerous such as Onix and Gyarados, he was purposefully keeping out of the mix.
It took what felt like minutes before he snapped his eyes open with a smile.
"How about this?"
A massive Wailord appeared below them, soft and bouncy, its body like a giant trampoline beneath them. From above, four walls thundered down, walling off the sides of the Wailord, and turning a soothing blue. Then it started raining.
A stuffed version of almost every Pokemon that Max had encountered came falling down with soft taps or thuds, bouncing off the Wailord's back or off a shield above the two dreamers. Soft felt, smooth silk, even stretchy rubber, came raining down like cute hailstones.
"Welcome to your happy place." Max said, jostling Vere gently.
"Happy place?"
Max nodded. "Yeah. This is where, whenever you are especially angry or upset, you should think of to calm yourself down." He said, lifting the Raichu plush from infront of them and handing it to Vere. "You've not many happy thoughts or memories, so I've focused on the one happiest memory you have that you can link to the real world, and expanded from there. You should remember, always, that here is safe. Nothing bad should ever happen to you here. Not ever. The world outside could be raining fire, but this room should always stay safe."
Vere seemed to consider this, eying the stuffed toys curiously.
"Remember, Vere, anything can happen in a dream." Max said. "Anything you want to happen, so long as you can imagine it, can happen. Watch."
Max pointed to a pile of fuzz, stuffing and silk, and the pile came alive. The Pokemon toys seemed to consider their existance before they started to simply dawdle about aimlessly. He moved forward and lifted one of them, a Mareep, and it struggled in his grip like a real Pokemon would.
"You see?" Max asked, putting the Mareep down and letting it run off to the other moving toys, giving them glances over its shoulder. "Nothing here can hurt you unless you let it, this place exists entirely for you. Fill it with things that make you feel happy or safe."
"Th-thank you Max..."
"Not at all, Vere." Max said, putting him down and watching him run off to play with a smile on his face.
"You are most welcome."