A Nightmare on Elm Sweet

WHACK

A black mass lunged from the ground and hit a Thwackey’s chest, sending the green monkey flying backwards. His airborne body dissipated into a white light before it could fall on the dirt floor of the forest dungeon.

The black mass returned to the ground and formed a shadow, which lurched back until it stopped under a floating Ghost Pokémon.

(Alright, that went well. I should be getting close to the end of the Mystery Dungeon now.)

Elm, the Duskull wearing a purple headband, scanned the room for items and put whatever he could find in his bag. Having finished the looting, he moved deeper into the dungeon, going through paths amidst the trees until he spotted a lone figure lying on the middle of a clearing.

(A sleeping Tepig. Lucky me, I can safely dispatch them with a single Shadow Sneak.)

Focusing to prepare his attack, Elm locked his sight on his target.

His sleeping target.

His unsuspecting target.

His vulnerable victim.

“…”

A strange yet familiar feeling surged inside Elm. A feeling of something inside his mind nudging him towards taking a specific action. Was it instinct? He did not know. What he did know was that this feeling had helped him before, so he decided to go along with it.

Instead of safely dispatching the sleeping pig, Elm approached them while avoiding making any noise or brash movements. Once he was positioned just a few inches away from his opponent, Elm got the urge to put his hand on top of their head, and complied with it.

The moment Elm’s right hand touched the sleeping Tepig’s forehead, his vision blurred.

(Huh?!)

The world around him seemed to dissolve away. All colors faded away, followed by the outlines of his surroundings melting and vanishing. The ground under them was the last thing to vanish, leaving nothing but a white void with Elm and the sleeping Tepig being all that remained. Startled, Elm quickly withdrew his hand from his foe’s head and his surroundings returned to normal right after the contact was broken.

*(W-What the hell was that?! Was it a move?)

(Maybe I should just leave things at that and hit them with a Shadow Sneak…)

(No, I can’t back down without learning more about this!)

Having resolved himself, Elm placed his hand on top of the Tepig’s head again. His surroundings vanished once more, leaving the only a blank void and the two Pokémon.

Despite being startled at first, Elm felt something flowing into his hand and entering his body. It felt like a stream of invisible mist circling around his arm before being absorbed into it. As more of this strange invisible substance entered his body, he felt as if a hunger he never realized he had was being satisfied. And the effect wasn’t just psychological, as he noticed the small scratches and bruises he had sustained during the dungeon exploration were slowly healing.

(This… is amazing! I need more of it!)

Elm kept his hand on the foe’s head and soon enough he noticed the sleeping Tepig started shifting around and making a strained expression, as if they were in pain. Despite the danger of his foe waking up, he kept at it until the Tepig stopped moving and dissipated into small specks of while light. As he watched the light fade away, Elm pondered about what had just happened.

(That must have been a new move. Let’s see, a move that damages a sleeping opponent while healing you…)

(Oh, Dream Eater! Great, now I have a new move under my belt!)

Elm performed a fist-pump to celebrate, but stopped midway as he came to a realization.

(Oh wait. It’s nice, but it’s not that useful unless I also learn a move that puts opponents to sleep or get lucky to find sleeping opponents often. It also seems like I can’t see what is happening around me while I use it, meaning that I would be defenseless if an enemy sneaks up on me while I’m using the move.)

(And even if I am lucky to find a lone sleeping opponent it is probably safer to just hit them hard while they’re sleeping instead of risking…)

A scenario began playing in Elm’s mind.

See sleeping Caterpie
Get close and use Dream Eater
Caterpie wakes up before I’m done
Fires a Hyper Beam right at my face
Get vaporized
Guildmate writes a novel on my folly to immortalize it
Novel’s title is “That Time I Decided to Approach a Sleeping Pokémon and was Obliterated by a Hyper Beam While Arceus Laughed at me and Decided to Reincarnate me as a Vaporeon in a Doujinshi. Since When Can Caterpies Use Hyper Beam?!”
It gets adapted into a manga that gets axed after only ten chapters

(Hell no!)

Elm shook his head and shuddered at the thought of that happening.

(Yeah, I better only use Dream Eater when I’m in desperate need for some healing.)

Having made up his mind, Elm resumed his dungeon dive to complete the day’s mission.

...

---

The joy-inducing sound of several coins clanking against each other filled Elm’s room as he added coins to his purse.

(Another day, another pay. Now I should be able to afford that Deluxe Hyper Parfait Triple Chocolate & Caramel Combo Plus +! I can’t wait to try it tomorrow.)

With the day coming to an end, Elm laid down on his bed and contained his watering mouth by focusing his thoughts on the events of the day. The main point of interest being the new move he learned.

(Maybe I should try to learn Hypnosis so that I can put foes to sleep on demand and create opportunities to use Dream Eater.)

(Actually, can Duskulls even learn Hypnosis? I can’t remember. Oh well, I’ll give it a try tomorrow.)

(I never thought about what Dream Eater’s user feels while using it. Gotta say, it felt pretty nice to the point where I feel like using it again despite the potential danger.)

"…"

At that moment a mischievous thought popped in Elm’s mind.

(I wonder what it feels like to use Dream Eater on someone who isn’t a wild dungeon Pokémon…)

Elm had no idea of how that thought would change his fate and lead to severe repercussions.

“Let’s give it a try.”

...

---

ZzZzZ

A Skorupi enjoyed a peaceful sleep on his bed. His body entangled by the long and fluffy tail of a sleeping Furret. Both partners unaware of the Duskull looming over them.

(This could be dangerous, so I’m just gonna have a little taste of their dreams. I’m sure that team MLG-)
Snicker
(-won’t mind me taking just a nibble!)

Elm approached his targets and briefly thought about which of them would be his first test subject.

(Furret is more energetic, so maybe her dreams will be more filling. I’ll try it on her first.)

He carefully placed his right hand on Furret’s forehead and imagined energy coming out of her and going into his arm. But nothing happened.

(Huh? Do I need a different visualization to get it to work…? Oh wait, Furret is a normie, so Dream Eater probably doesn’t work on her since it is a Ghost move. Guess that means Smith will be my first victim test subject.)

Elm placed his right hand on the Skorupi’s forehead, taking a moment to note of how touching the purple scorpion’s chitinous exterior felt different from fur and skin, and tried to imagine the energy flow again. His vision blurred and soon enough he saw his surroundings melt away.

But this time there was no blank void. Instead, the melted surroundings reformed into a different scene. The floor reformed into a craggy uneven terrain and mountains rose from the ground, leaving Elm and the sleeping Smith in an open area in the middle of a mountain range. Wind blew on Elm and made echoing sounds as it travelled between the mountains.

Elm’s amazement at the reforming surroundings was interrupted by the sound of rocks breaking. He turned his head towards the direction the sound came from and saw…

(Smith?!)

Just a few meters away from Elm and the sleeping Smith, a second Smith was engaged in battle against multiple Pokémon.

Two Machokes were at close range trying to punch Smith, while a Cacnea fired needles at him from a distance. Smith gracefully dodged the punches by latching his tail-pincer on a nearby boulder and pull his body towards it. He followed the dodge by lifting the boulder and using it as a shield to block the needles fired by the Cacnea, then throwing the boulder at them. It hit the Cacnea right in the face, leaving them down for the count. I big smile was plastered on Smith’s face during the whole fight.

Elm watched the battle unfold, with half of his mind enjoying the show and the other half trying to understand what was happening.

(What the hell is going on here? This is so different from when I used Dream Eater on the Tepig.)

(Wait… Maybe this is Smith’s dream? Yeah, that must be it.)

(Hmm… Then maybe the reason why nothing showed up when I used it on the Tepig is that wild dungeon Pokémon don’t have any dreams? I guess that would explain- Huh?)

Elm finally noticed an unexpected and sweet taste on his tongue, even though there was nothing in his mouth. It had been present since he entered the dream, but it was faint, so it took some time for him to notice it.

(What is this? I’m tasting honey and… cinnamon? But I’m not eating anything… Or am I?)

(Could this be the taste of Smith’s dream? But I haven’t even started focusing on eating the dream.)

(Well, only one way to find out. Smith is enjoying his dream a lot, but it’s time to have a bite!)

While still watching then unfolding battle between dream-Smith and the Machokes, Elm focused on the sensations in his right hand and imagined a stream of mist coming out from the sleeping real Smith and creeping up his arm. Soon enough the same sensations he had with the sleeping Tepig appeared again.

Elm carefully watched the scenario around him to see what effects Dream Eater would have on them, and to look for signs of when he should stop it. The first thing he noticed was that the mountains on the horizon were fading away, leaving nothing but white void in their place.

That white void was slowly consuming the edges of the dream world and moving towards Elm and Smith. It was as if the world was inside a giant circle that was shrinking at an increasing pace, and everything that went out of that circle ceased to exist.

As more of the dream world was consumed, the honey and cinnamon taste in Elm’s mouth intensified, much to his delight.

(So it really was the taste of his dream. Dreams taste so gooooood!)

Eventually the white void got close enough for the dream version of Smith and his remaining opponents to notice it. Elm couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could tell that dream-Smith was panicking while moving around looking for a way to escape. During his frantic search, Smith looked at Elm’s direction several times.

(I’ve been standing here in plain sight for a while, but no one has acknowledged my presence. Seems like I am invisible to others in dreams.)

At that moment he felt the real Smith shift around under his hand.

(Okay, I think this is where I should stop. Don’t want to accidentally do any serious damage to my friends!)

Elm broke contact with Smith’s head and the dream world around them instantly vanished. As soon as the real surroundings of team MLG’s room formed again, Elm dove into a nearby wall to escape before any of them could wake up and see him.

He phased through the wall until he emerged in the guild’s hallways, where he took some time to think about the experience.

(This was so different from the Tepig. It felt even better, and I could even taste the dream! Hnng, I said I would just take a bite to try it out, but now I’m craving more…)

(I’ll take a bite out of someone else’s dream. But only one more time!)

He phased through a wall on another part of the hallway, peeking his face on the other side to check if the residents were asleep.

(Let’s see, whose room is this again? Oh, it’s Toge’s.)

A lone Pokémon was sleeping on a bed in the dark room. A Togetic.

“…”

(Nah, I'm not doing this to him. On to the next room!)

Elm was about to dive back into the wall, but the sound of Toge’s groaning caught Elm attention, causing him to look back at him.

(Hmm?)

Something wasn’t right. Toge had a contorted expression while shifting in his sleep.

(Is he having a nightmare?)

A soft “No…” escaped from the Togetic’s mouth.

(…Let’s have a look.)

Elm placed his right hand on the sleeping Togetic’s head and focused. The world around him melted away and reformed.

Scanning his surroundings, Elm realized he was at the entrance hall of the Clover Guild, spotting the doorway to the mess hall, the hallway to the training dojo, and the exit. They should have been familiar and comforting sights, but everything was being consumed by fire in the dream world.

Elm watched the ghastly scene in horror as he saw the walls burning around him, the heat from the flames feeling as hot as real flames. From the corner of his vision he spotted motionless bodies of some guild members lying face-down on the floor, but there was no time to identify them since Elm's attention was drawn to an unfamiliar voice coming from behind him.

“That should get rid of every trace of these foul beasts.”

Turning around, Elm saw a Dewott standing next to Toge, who was lying on the floor with his body tied down by what seemed to be green rope.

“The w-whole guild… W-Why would y-you go t-this far?!”, muttered the sobbing Togetic.

“Why? Because these animals DARED to take you away from me! I couldn’t stand the though of those creatures further brainwashing you, so I had to take drastic measures to rescue you.”

“N-No! I d-didn’t want t-this!”

The Dewott crouched down next to Toge. “Don’t worry. When we go back to our world the horrible time you had with those beasts will be a distant memory. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I’m never letting one of those monsters take you again. To show how committed I am, I even bound you with the vines I ripped out of that green pipsqueak who latched onto you to poison your mind.”

Toge’s only answer was lowering his face to the floor and breaking out in more tears. Seeing that, the Dewott tried to comfort Toge by caressing the top of his head.

“Shhh... No need to cry anymore. I'll protect you."

"Now we’ll be together again… Forever.”

Unlike the sweet dream Smith was having, Toge’s nightmare was leaving a sour taste in Elm’s mouth even though he had yet to begin focusing on eating the dream world. It felt like a drop of vinegar fell on his tongue.

Having silently watched the horrible scene unfold in front of him, Elm’s thoughts were…

(Holy shit! So that is the Dewott who has been messing with the guild. What a deluded obsessive asshole.)

(I’m still mad for not being at the guild on the day he tried to kidnap Toge, because I sure wanted to beat the crap out of him when I heard about what happened. I can’t believe this guy used to be Toge’s partner.)

Dewott carefully picked up the sobbing Togetic in a cradle hold and began walking towards the guildhall’s exit.

(But damn, this is quite the nightmare. I feel so bad for Toge.)

(Should I eat this nightmare world like I was doing with Smith…? Nah, that would require eating a lot of it and that might hurt his body in the real world. Then maybe I should just wake him up?)

(Or maybe…)

An idea popped up in Elm’s mind.

(Might as well give this a try.)

With his hand still touching the real Togetic’s head, Elm glared at the Dewott carrying dream-Togetic away. While imagining a flow of misty energy coming out of the real Togetic and going into his arm, Elm imagined the Dewott disintegrating into mist and joining the stream going into his arm.

The sour taste of vinegar in Elm’s mouth got stronger, but his idea worked. He saw the Dewott vanish from the nightmare in the blink of an eye, leaving the bound dream-Togetic looking around with a confused expression.

(Yuck! Yandere Dewott tastes awful! But wow, seems like I can choose what I devour in a dream or nightmare if I focus on it. That’s neat.)

(Now to top it off…)

Elm repeated the process, focusing on the vines tying Togetic and the fire consuming the guildhall. Much like Dewott, they vanished from the nightmare, leaving more bitter notes in Elm’s tongue.

With Dewott and the fire gone, the surroundings started remolding again, confusing dream-Togetic even more. The guildhall returned to normal, as if the fire never happened, and a group of guildmates, including Chespin, came out of the mess hall and greeted Togetic.

Togetic’s smile of relief put a soothing taste of chamomile tea in Elm’s mouth.

…

---

(Good, he’s having proper sleep now.)

Having left the nightmare right after changing it into a regular dream, Elm watched Togetic for a minute to see if his actions in the dream influenced him in the real world. There was no more groaning or tossing, only the soft sounds of his snoring.

Satisfied, Elm left the room by phasing through the wall.

(Hmm, so it turns out that I can somewhat manipulate dreams by eating specific parts of them. That means I can help others with this power!)

(Yeah… “help”.)

“Heh heh heh.”

…

---

zZzZ

An Oshawott was enjoying a peaceful sleep in his room, blissfully unaware of Elm watching him.

(I said I was only going to do it one more time, but I only took a nibble of Toge’s sour nightmare, so I’m still craving more. Good thing I can count on Gus to feed me his dreams!)

(Oh man, Gus is even smiling while sleeping. He must be having a nice dream, which means it will probably be even more delicious than Smith’s!)

Wasting no time, Elm placed his hand on his next victim’s head and focused. In no time his surroundings melted away and reformed.

Elm and the sleeping Gus were now on Capim Town’s docks at nighttime. Countless stars shone bright in the sky, enhancing the beauty of the scene along with the soothing sound of waves hitting the shore and the scent of seawater permeating the air.

Elm spotted the dream version of Gus sitting at the edge of the docks, alongside someone Elm didn’t recognize. It was a Minccino. Both Pokémon were gazing at the starry sky while engaging in a lively conversation, with frequent laughter and smiles while looking at each other. The cheerful and happy dream was resulting in Elm tasting a sweet flavor of milk chocolate.

(Hmm, what a delicious dream! But who is that person Gus is talking to? A friend I haven’t met yet? I’ve never seen Gus smile that much in a conversation before.)

He focused his sight on the Minccino while digging through his own memories for any hint of the identity of the Pokémon talking to Gus. To Elm’s confusion, in a split second the Minccino’s form shifted and changed into an Emolga. Gus did not react at all and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. It was almost as if the Minccino had been an Emolga the whole time and Elm was just hallucinating.

(The hell is going on here?! Is that a Ditto?)

He kept watching Gus’ strange friend and soon enough it happened again. In the blink of an eye the Emolga was gone, replaced by a Patrat.

(…No, Dittos don’t transform that fast. Do they?)

Elm watched in confusion as the process kept repeating every minute. The Patrat became a Gollet, then a Pawmot, then a Tepig. But despite the appearance changes, their conversation with Gus went on as normal.

During all the changes Elm noticed one detail that was the same in all forms of the strange Pokémon. All the forms were wearing a dark-blue scarf in different parts of their body, with a familiar badge of the Clover guild pinned on it. Additionally, Gus was wearing a matching scarf on his neck.

(Wait… Dream world… Matching scarves… Gus having the time of his life... Could it be that this strange Pokémon is the result of Gus dreaming about having a partner?)

Gus’ supposed dream-partner, having just become an Espurr, was now holding hands with Gus while both were laughing.

(Yep, that has to be it. It would explain this weird form changing. I guess that since Gus is a member of the no-partner club his mind is trying to come up with one but is undecided on a Pokémon species. Heh, despite what he tells others, he totally wants a partner.)

(Gotta say though. Gus is having such a good time that I don’t want to eat his dream.)

“…”

(Juuust kidding! Sorry Gus, but there’s no way I’m not taking a huge bite of such a delicious dream!)

With his hand still on the real Gus’ forehead, Elm focused on the dream’s energy being channeled into his arm. Soon enough, the sea in front of dream-Gus was being consumed by a white void. The taste of milk chocolate Elm was feeling became stronger, causing his mouth to water in delight.

After some minutes of consuming the dream, Gus and his dream-partner, who was a Minccino again, finally noticed the approaching white void. They got up and started running towards Capim Town to escape while still holding hands.

(Okay, I think that’s almost all I can eat before endangering Gus.)

Elm was about to stop Dream Eater, but the sight of the running partners gave Elm a devilish idea.

(Oh boy, this is going to be mean, but I can’t help myself. I just have to see Gus’ reaction to this.)

Still channeling the dream energy into his arm, Elm focused his gaze on the running duo. The result was the Minccino letting go of Gus’ hand and collapsing on the wooden boards of the docks. Gus turned back and tried to help his partner get up, but the Minccino disintegrated into several specks of yellow light before Gus could reach them.

Gus’ reaction was to scream at the top of his lungs. While Elm’s was to make his best impression of a cartoon villain laugh.

“Yes… Ha ha ha… Yes!”

The shift from dream to nightmare added sour notes to the taste in Elm’s mouth. But for him that actually enhanced the taste, as it reminded him of chocolate with bits of orange peels.

…

---

(Yum, that was delicious. I said I would only do it one more time, but there’s no way I’m stopping now. I want to have a taste of everyone’s dreams!)

What ensued was Elm sneaking into several guildmates’ bedrooms, looking for potential targets. One by one he invaded their dreams with no regard for their privacy and had a taste.

(Wow, even in their dreams Chespin and Wooper are together. Good for me because their dreams are so sweet and taste of cotton candy!)

(Uh, I’ll skip Charm and Natu’s room. A Psychic type might be good at detecting me messing with dreams.)

(I should skip Kaiji and Kris' room too. I have a feeling Kris might suddenly wake up and blurt nonsense.)

(Yum yum. One dreamy étouffée, with apple and cheesecake for dessert~.)

(Booker has a tiny body, but he sure has a big dream about being strong to protect Sneasel. And it is overflowing with royal jelly flavor!)

(I heard a bit about what happened to Sneasel before she joined the guild, but I didn’t think she missed them that much. It’s sad… Sad how I have to leave the dream now and no longer feel this flavor of peppermint icecream!)

(Oooh, what do we have here? This is the first time I see KFC looking vulnerable. Don’t mind if I- SHIT!) “H-Hi KFC. I was just going for a… uh… night stroll, yeah! SorryforwakingyouupI’llbegoingnowbye!”

(Urp, figures Maxi’s dream would taste like durian.)

(Los sueños de Bill y Gill son deliciosos. Saben a dulce de leche, si si.)

(Why is this sheep dreaming about explosions?!)

...

---

With so many dreams being devoured Elm expected his hunger to subside, but the opposite happened instead. With each dream he tasted, he found himself craving more and more and eating increasingly larger portions of his guildmates dreams. While at the start he was holding himself back out of concern for his guildmates’ safety, those mental barriers crumbled down when his hunger started consuming his mind.

“Hah… This is… bad…”

“I… I gotta stop but…”

“I need more… More sweet dreams…”

“Ah, I… I can’t hold mYself bAck anymOre…”

“I… I WiLl…” (Sound Warning)

.

..

...

“I will ConSuMe eVeryOne’S sWeeT SwEEt dReaMs unTTiLL nOthIng is leFT!”

Elm’s rationality was gone, leaving behind only a monster with an unsatiable hunger.

…

---

The dream devourer swam inside the guild’s walls, eventually coming out in a room and spotting the first unlucky soul who would have their dreams eaten until the last bit.

...

---

Despite having puked already, it took all of Elm’s willpower to hold in another wave until he managed to phase through the guild’s walls to reach the safety of his room. He did not want to find out what would happen if he puked while still inside a wall.

As soon as he got back to his room he dropped on the floor and unleashed everything he was holding in. Vomit, tears, and thoughts.

Barf

(OhGodwhatthefuckwasthat?! I knew that little shit was a degenerate, but I didn’t expect a whole encyclopedia of unholy fetishes packed into a single dream!)

His crying intensified as he started beating his head against the wall.

Thud Thud Thud

(Please God! Erase all these filthy memories of that crime against humanity in the shape of a dream! Especially the memories of the taste! OH GOD, THE TASTE…)

“Urp!”

Baaarf

THUD THUD THUD

”FUUUUUUUUCK! I WANT TO FORGET EVERYTHING!”

BANG BANG BANG BANG

“OH GOD ALL THE MEMORIES ARE STILL BURNED INTO MY MIND! THE TENTACLES! THE WONDERBREAD WITH SPIKES! AND THE ARMY OF ROLLERSKATING PREGNANT GARDEVOIRS AND LOPUNNYS WITH GIANT, THROBBING-“

“URP!”

BAAARF

One last tear dripped off his face and mixed with the pool of vomit on the floor as the strain on Elm’s mind became too much, causing him collapse. He had one final thought before passing out.

(I’m never using Dream Eater again!)

Later, a rumour about a cursed spirit screaming and banging on the walls in the dead of the night became a popular ghost story among the guild.