Chapter Text
The dark is so lonely— why? You are a wish-giver, they say. They hollow me out and call it a gift! What do they know of the torment sleeping gives me?
The eye of acrimony mustn't be awake too long, as people ask more of me. My sleep extends, and it grows more powerful by day. I can feel it consume my mind and body... Wishes aren't curses. Wishes. Aren't. Curses! Wishes. Curses. Curses!
Curses are Wishes....
A broken prayer turned into a curse, echoing through the void as the eye awoke. A dark, wispy shadow enveloped Jirachi's body. The usually cyan iris and pupil were blood red, the sclera a bottomless black. The space around it grew heavy.
☆☆☆
The crowded police station was very loud. A cacophony of voices made Ash clutch his head as he thought for an answer- the officer had asked many questions... None made sense to him, and they sat him down, saying, "Collect your thoughts, then answer."
The voices drove him crazy because, as he thought, he heard things that made his heart race, and he feared the worst had happened to Serena. And his mind was jumbled again; the same things repeated the first few times he tried to think coherently.
Clemont had returned after he managed to calm Bonnie down and keep her occupied with Clembot in his gym; he sat down beside him. Ash didn't notice the lemon-haired inventor.
" Ash, what did the police say? Ash, can you hear me? Ash!" Clemont shook him out of his solemn stupor. The raven-haired trainer snapped out of his stupor and stammered, gibberish.
" LET ME THINK! Clemont, please?! Be quiet. I need space to breathe..." Ash stood up angrily, and the noise halted everyone in the police station; focus shifted to them, and Ash shrugged off Clemont's hand and stormed off.
Clemont sat there, surprised Ash had never got this worked up before, and he decided to find Ash again; he ran out the door after Ash and spotted him walking down the street, not paying attention to who he bumped into.
Ash walked on, not hearing the world around him, the traffic not paying attention to the road; he got onto the pedestrian crossing and looked down at the ground. He heard Clemont call out but didn't catch what he was saying until the whole world tilted sideways.
A sickening crack got him out of his stupor; a sharp, wet, hot pain flared at the back of his head. He knew he had cracked his skull; his vision went black; the last thing before his world went dark completely was a gross vomiting sensation.
Ash woke up, sat up gasping for air and scrambled off the bed, gagging as he clawed his way to the toilet and pulled himself up to the toilet bowl; vomiting as the nausea lingered, he looked around. It was his room at the Pokémon Centre. It was exactly as he had seen it a day ago.
He felt sick; another wave of nausea hit him as he frantically clawed at the back of his head because he still felt phantom pain.
Outside his door, a shadow gathered, and Ash could make out that it was someone at his door, but he wasn't in a position to answer the door.
"ASH?! What happened? I heard something fall! Are you okay?!" Serena, worried, frantically tried to unlock the door.
Ash tried to answer; all that came out was a weak yes. He heard Nurse Joy arrive at the door to enquire what the shouting was about. Serena was trying to explain to Nurse Joy. He could make out voices; the words weren't legible.
The world went black again as the door clicked open. He saw the worry in Serena's eyes as he blacked out.