"Gengar, use Dream Eater." a voice ordered, and a child cringed in discomfort.

The child began running, running away from the darkness that encroached her slowly.

"Please, you need to wake up. Before it's too late." a voice said, different from the one before.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, still running.

"Someone that wants to help. But you need to wake up."

"Why?"

"Please. You mustn't forget who you are."

"Wha-?"

"What's your name?"

"My... my name?"

"Yes. You still remember your name, right?"

"O- Of course I do! It's... it's..."

"Hurry. There isn't much time."

"It's..."

Why can't I remember my own name?! Why can't I remember anything?!

"———, my little sweetheart, stay safe." the man whispered into the girl's ear, and the girl widened her eyes as the man pushed her away from the hole.

"I- I remember! My name is Nicole!"

"That's good. Looks like I'm not to late. You need to wake up. I've already sent someone to help you."

"Who are you? Will I ever meet you?"

"My name is of unimportance, and I doubt we will meet face to face. Stay safe, Nicole. The fate of the world rests on your shoulders."

"What does that mean?!"

Nicole looked behind her to see that the shadow was looming closer.

"Nicole, wake up!"

"Thank you all for coming. We live in dark times, my friends."

"A grave loss has recently befallen us all."

"The Augur was a great man. Not only was he an unmatched trainer, but his heart burned with the desire to protect his people."

"He was our hero... and possibly the best leader the Torren Region has ever known."

"But..."

"As you know, where other regions have evil Teams or organizations, it's Pokémon-worshiping cults that call the Torren Region home."

"But to these cults, religion is so much more than just believing. They won't rest until the world is remade exactly how they want it to be."

"For our protection, the Augur defeated and disbanded over half of them. He saved us."

"A week ago, he went searching for one of the remaining cults..."

"... ... ..."

"...he has not returned. He hasn't been seen since."

"People of Torren! I, like you, do not believe our Augur is dead. I assure you, I will search tirelessly until he is found again."

"With a heavy heart, I accept the burden of taking his place until he is found. Until the First Augur returns, I shall be the Second."

"I promise you, I will use every resource at my disposal to find him!"

"We will stand our ground! We will not let these cultists... these insurgents... split our families and destroy the place we call home!"

"Long live the Torren Region!"

"LONG LIVE THE TORREN REGION!"

"We will remain strong!"

"Damian, stop watching that stupid video." a voice called, and a white haired boy rolled his eyes.

"Just because you hate it doesn't mean that I can't watch it." Damian said, and a purple haired boy walked into the room.

"All the 'Second Augur' has done is spout nonsense and propaganda." Damian looked at the other with wide eyes.

"You dare speak blasphemy about the Second Augur?!" Damian asked, and purple eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I'm going out to Shade Forest." the boy said, walking out of the house.

"Wyatt, wait!"

"All right. The door is locked, and Gengar is doing her thing. Soon, Dream Eater will rid the prisoner of the last of her memories. Hopefully we'll be done within the hour."

"Well? How is our youngest prisoner faring?" The two grunts looked up and saw their leader.

"According to the computer, Miss Persephone, their memories should be completely gone very soon. Everything is going as planned."

"Excellent. Finally, we'll have fulfilled our end of the bargain. Good work, you two. We are starting the ritual soon in the upstairs room. Will you be attending?"

"Of course, Miss. I would never miss a sacrifice."

"Very well. I'll see you upstairs then."

"Miss, wait, I have a question." The lady in the cloak turned around, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"After the child's memories are gone, what do you plan to do with them?" the grunt asked. The lady's expression morphed to one of twisted glee.

"Kill them, of course." She then turned around, not noticing both of the grunts shivering slightly.

"I expect you upstairs within two minutes." The lady then walked away, leaving the two grunts to themselves.

"Why are we bothering to wipe their memories if we're just going to kill them anyway?"

"No clue, but thanks for not asking that in front of her. You know how she hates to be questioned." They both shivered.

"Let's go upstairs, then. It's always fun to see a ritual being performed." Both grunts left, heading to the ritual.

"Mew..." The Gengar looked around, stopping it's attack.

"Mew..." The Gengar backed away from the chained child, looking around fearfully.

A pink Pokémon dropped down from the ceiling, frightening the Gengar and causing her to run away, leaving the door opened.

"Gengar's gone... go. Follow Mew, get out of here, and never look back. Good luck." Nicole pushed herself up on the cot, looking at Mew with curious purple eyes.

She then looked down at the chain around her ankle, then back at Mew.

"Um... can you help me with this?" Nicole asked, and Mew nodded happily.

Mew then used Psychic on the chain, breaking it off of Nicole's leg. Nicole then rubbed her leg. "Thanks, Mew." Nicole said, then walked towards the door with Mew floating behind.

Nicole walked down through the base, holding her arms close. "I really don't like the feel of this place." Nicole muttered, and Mew voiced her agreement.

Nicole then found a room with a bookshelf in it, and entered.

"Who knew their would be a bookshelf in a place like this." Nicole mused, walking towards the bookshelf. She then searched the spines of the books, until one caught her eye.

"Hmm? 'The Cults of the Torren Region'? Why does that seem familiar?" Nicole mused, taking the book from the shelf.

"'The Torren Region has, as far as we know, always been under the threat of different legendary-worshipping cults.' Why is that familiar?" Nicole wondered, angered by her lack of memory. Mew placed a comforting paw on Nicole's shoulder, making the girl look at the Pokémon in surprise, then calmed down.

"Thanks, Mew." Nicole said, calming down.

"Now, 'There are five cults currently in power. The Cult Of Darkrai, Abyssal Cult, Infernal Cult, Sky Cult, and a group simply called "Perfection."' Yeah, like that isn't off putting." Nicole grumbled.

"Mew..." Mew said, and Nicole sighed.

"'All of these cults are extremely dangerous and should be treated with extreme caution.' No duh." Nicole said, closing the book and putting it back on the shelf.

"I guess we should get out now." Nicole said, and Mew nodded.

They then walked out of the room, heading down towards the hall. "Stairs!" Nicole exclaimed in glee, silently heading up the stairs.

They came to a floor with another set of stairs and an entrance to a different part of the floor.

Nicole headed towards the stairs, but was stopped by Mew.

"Mew, what's wrong?" Nicole asked, and then noticed the note Mew was holding. "For me?" Nicole asked, and Mew nodded. Nicole took the note.

"'I chose Mew to help you out of this mess due to its special ability. It is able to use Transform to change its form and disguise itself as something else. However, unlike Ditto, Mew can transform you as well. If you can find DNA, Mew can disguise you as someone else. You should be able to use this to escape the base. Good luck, your benefactor.'" Nicole stared at the note blankly, then sighed.

"I'm really going to hate this." Nicole muttered. They then headed up the stairs and found a floor with green water and a raised dais.

"What the heck?" Nicole muttered, going closer to the dais.

There were dried up patches of a red substance on the ground, on top of a ritual circle.

"Dried blood?" Nicole murmured, touching it. "Wait, Cult of Darkrai, sacrifices... oh dear Arceus." Nicole muttered, face becoming pale. Nicole rushed over near the edge of the floor, emptying her stomach's contents into the strange water.

Once she was done, and she had wiped the small amount of dried blood on her fingers onto the ground, Nicole wiped at her mouth, breathing in air greedily.

"That's... that's disgusting." Nicole said weakly, and Mew nodded, coming over near Nicole.

"Me... mew" Mew said, and Nicole nodded. "If this isn't the exit, that means it's somewhere else. And to do that, I'll have to look like one of them." Nicole muttered. Mew nodded.

"So, can you transform me to look like one?" Nicole asked, and Mew nodded.

In a flash of light, Nicole looked down and saw that she was wearing a Darkrai Cultists' outfit, and Nicole barely held down the bile that rose to her throat.

"Wait, won't they be able to see you?" Nicole asked, and Mew shook its head. "How?" Nicole asked, and Mew waved its paw.

"So, invisibility?" Nicole asked, and Mew nodded. "Alright. Then let's go." Nicole said, and they headed down the stairs.

They came across a locked door. "Hope this works." Nicole muttered quietly, raising a hand up to the lock. She placed her hand on it, and it unlocked, opening the door.

Nicole walked through, and found a grunt in front of the door. Nicole walked towards the grunt, silently sweating in fear.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the sacrifice along with everyone else?" the grunt asked, and Nicole nodded, then turned and walked away.

"Oh dear Arceus." Nicole muttered once she was away, and Mew patted her shoulder comfortingly.

She walked down the other way, and passed a room with tables and boxes. Past that was a hallway, and it lead to another room with tables and boxes, though there was a strange machine near a corner.

'I don't want to know what that is.' Nicole thought, shrugging off the chills she got from looking at it.

Walking past that was another set of stairs, and Nicole walked up them.

There were more pools of the green water, and there were several grunts mingling about.

Nicole walked towards the open hallway, and found herself in an area with two more bookshelves.

"'The Cult of Darkrai'?" Nicole muttered, opening the book.

'The Cult of Darkrai is led by a woman named Persephone. Like most other cults in the region, they have made it their goal to summon Darkrai from a different world. Most of her reasons for trying to call Darkrai are unknown, but she is suspected to have sadistic tendencies due to events in her childhood.'

"'Sadistic tendencies,' no kidding." Nicole muttered, then moved over to the other bookshelf.

"'The Kalos War'? The heck is that?" Nicole muttered, opening the book.

'The Aroma-Kalos War was a war between the Kalos and Aroma regions. It is renowned for the first inter-region war that involved the use of Pokémon as fighting tools. Kalos eventually won the war by the use of what was basically nuclear weaponry, an "ultimate weapon" charged by a legendary Pokémon.'

"Using Pokémon as tools, that's disgusting. But why is this kind of book here?" Nicole wondered as she put the book back, then walked back towards the area in front of the dais.

Nicole walked towards the dais, and couldn't help the slight chill she got from looking at it.

"And so we begin." Nicole looked up, horror etched onto her face that was hidden by the shadows of the hood she wore.

"Miss! Please, you can't do this! I don't want to die!"

The figure from earlier was standing outside of the ritual circle, while a grunt was in the center. Nicole ignored the nasty feeling in her gut.

"You swore when you joined that you would give your life for us. How is this any different? Activate the ritual circle!" A couple grunts at the computers started up the circle.

It flickered from green to red, then stopped on red.

"Darkrai, lord of darkness! I call upon you to enter our world! In return, I offer you the soul of this loyal servant, to be bound to your world of nightmares forever! Voco virtutem umbrarum dominum!" Persephone chanted.

Everything got dark, and a growl resounded out.

When the light came back, it was still dark. But, instead of the grunt member, their was a Pokémon that Nicole assumed was Darkrai. Nicole gulped.

"Darkrai, the lord of nightmares..." Persephone began, a smile on her face.

"You are the great balancer of the world. You punish the great, and slay the immortal. It has been a year since I saw you last."

"You remember what occurred then? We accomplished something incredible that day. I thought finally, you had accepted you our offer to join us."

"But you fled soon after, never to be seen again. But now I call upon you again... Darkrai, why will you not join me? I know my sister has seen you time and time again... why do you favor her over me?"

"I beseech you, Darkrai, join me. Join the Cult that has worshipped you for so long. With my guidance, and your power, the world could be ours."

... ... ... ...

Nicole could tell that the grunts, along with herself, were waiting with bated breath.

Darkrai unnoticeably looked down at Nicole, who gulped. Darkrai then looked back at Persephone.

Darkrai then disappeared, and Nicole found it easier to breath.

"... ... ..." Everyone looked at Persephone, who was shaking.

"Well, isn't that just lovely." Nicole flinched at the venom in Persephone's voice.

"It's probably gone off to Selene City to see my sister again... What a waste of a grunt..." Persephone walked down from the dais, only to be intercepted by two grunts.

"And what do you two want, exactly?" Persephone asked, annoyed. Nicole gulped quietly and backed away from the three.

'They've got a death wish.'

"Miss, please. I'm confident that if we had another try, we could trap Darkrai here! We don't know why it didn't work this time, but if you'll just give us another chance..."

"Get out of my way." Persephone brought out a black and orange hound with silver horns, a snarl on its lips.

"Fire Blast." Persephone ordered, a cruel smile on her face. The hound gathered fire at the back of its throat, and it released it at the two grunts.

Nicole held back the scream in her throat, keeping her hands down.

There wasn't even ash left where the two grunts were.

"I'm going to check on the prisoner. None of you had better follow me." Persephone ordered, then walked away.

Nicole's walked down the stairs, and leaned against them and curled up.

"I'm scared, Mew." Nicole whimpered, hiding her face in her legs.

"I can't do this. I'm too scared." Nicole muttered, and Mew placed a concerned paw on Nicole's shoulder.

"Mew?" Nicole shook her head, then got up.

"Let's get out of here. I don't want to get caught crying here." Nicole said, dusting off her behind.

Nicole then walked around, and found the stairs that, hopefully, led out of the base.

Once she got to the top of the stairs, Nicole found herself at the top of a cave system with trees around the area.