SilverLatios47
- Posts: 93
Been writing a one-shot that I decided I'll make as a creepypasta. To those who don't know, creepypastas are short stories written with intention of creating a negative emotional response from, disturbing, or otherwise scaring the reader. So yeah, internet scary stories. I'm kind of obsessed with them at the moment, and the Pokemon Nightmare Fuel page on TV Tropes inspired me to write this story. When I first wrote it, I didn't intend for it to be a creepypasta, so the beginning sounds like a stereotypical OT story. I'll re-write the whole thing with creepypasta influence when I get the time.
Anywhoo, enjoy and let me know if there's anything I can improve on. This is my first official Pokemon story, though definitely not my first work of writing.
Rated pg-13 for one instance of mild language and gruesome, violent images.
Dark Void
They always told me I was an amazing trainer. When I was little, I was always immersed into the culture and hype of the creatures. My parents were breeders, so I grew up surrounded by many of the hundreds of kinds of them. They were my pets, when I was an infant. Very soon after I could speak, I began to learn about them. Their types, how they grew up, their behavior in the wild, the many different abilities they posessed and the attacks they performed. If I had ever attended in Academic schools, I would have excelled. But no. I channelled all my energy, all my being into learning about them. My tenth birthday, I passed my practical test and got my trainer's liscence. I was more than enthusiastic, zealous. They were my life. Pokemon were my life.
***
"Go, Flygon!"
I hurled the shiny red ball, a Cherish ball, into the arena. It opened with a burst of colorful rays, a lean dragon materializing from white to a cool lime green.
"Urrraaaaayuu!" Flygon cried energetically, spreading his diamond-shaped wings wide and flourishing his tail about, perched up on his hind paws. On the opposite side was an easily recognizable form-a large orange dragonic Pokemon, with a cream belly, standing on two thick legs, whipping around a flame-tipped tail.
The Charizard was already tired. He growled menacingly at the Flygon, knowing it would take him down.
I smirked. Flygon was indeed my last Pokemon, and I was backed into a corner. But he was my trump card. My foe was a battler who used primarily Fire-types. His name I could care less about, but he really was a formidable foe so far. The battle was three to one. Still I remained confident. There was a paralyzed Rapidash still in his inventory. His own last Pokemon had yet to been revealed. I was still confident. Flygon had the type advantage against Charizard, and likely his last member. The battle had indeed been brutal, but my team could handle it. They were like my brothers and sisters.
And me? I'm Jake. The battling prodigy destined to become a legend. I've been from Kanto to Sinnoh and back. But Johto is like my second home; I was born and raised there until I set out on a ferry to start out like all the bigshots and wannabes did, from Pallet Town. I was there before the biggest annual influx of young Trainers, and even so, already had three Pokemon. Of course, they were all pets who had long before decided to join me when it was time. They were quite low-leveled for having lived for a few years already, so they seemed to grow somewhat faster than usual when we began journeying. I easily kept up the pace, clearing Gym battle after Gym battle, catching new friends and taking part in the Indigo League. I attracted quite a few eyes, having some Pokemon from Johto. I lost in the finals, but still recieved a complimentary interview that were usually exclusive to the Champion. They said I was destined to become a top-trainer, and that after I was done traveling, would make a fearsome competitive battler.
I wanted to competitively battle as an adult. And here I am, at fifteen, in the Sinnoh league. Yeah, it took me five years to get through four regions, because I spent tons of time training new friends and searching for rare Pokemon.
Here I am, fifteen, the Sinnoh League.
"Flygon, Agility then Stone Edge it!"
Flygon immediately began to churn his wings, rising into the air and hovering for a moment, then speeding around the panting Charizard in a circle, faster and faster. The force of my beloved starter's wings sent up clouds of sand and stones in the Rock-type themed arena. The Charizard grunted and growled, glancing anxiously at his trainer for a command.
"Charizard…Heat wave!" His trainer was clever, using the vacuum created by Flygon's speed against him. But as Charizard pulled his wings up to cast flames into the vortex, the green dragon had already summoned big, sharp rocks from the ground, and hurled them into the panting Charizard. The Fire-type roared painfully, and fell, faint trails of smoke curled out from his nostrils.
Without a word, my adversary recalled his(assumed) starter. He gritted his teeth, and threw out a Dusk Ball. Out from it burst a snarling black cerebus, Houndoom. Flygon had flew back to my side of the field and hovered in place, wary. "Houndoom, Will-O-Wisp."
A tangle of blue-white flames erupted from the Houndoom's jaws, spewed in a fast-moving cluster.
"Flygon, quick, fly up and over the Houndoom!"
As Flygon powered up, accelerating fast, the fireball slightly changed direction, but fizzled out as the gust from Flygon's wings dissipated it. My foe immediately barked, "Flamethrower!" Houndoom loosed a stream of fire up at my Flygon. It might have reached him if I hadn't replied, "Agility again to blow it out, then dive!"
Flygon's wings, already beating so fast they were invisible, a blur of green sound waves. Houndoom shook his head in discomfort at their loudness. The vibrating waves ate through the Flamethrower. Flygon arced upwards, did a mid-air backflip, and zoomed to the ground as fast as a bullet. Good, I thought, he knows what I meant.
Flygon landed with a front-flip, slamming his tail into the ground. The earth surged upwards, red-hot and rippling with an unmistakeable Earthquake. Huge slabs of the ground smothered Houndoom with a fearful, high-pitched yelp. They receded then vanished, leaving the unconscious dog.
My heart breathed a little sigh of relief. His Rapidash couldn't pose too much a threat…
The trainer opposite me recalled Houndoom with a grudge-filled glare. My eyes stared coolly back. He threw his last Pokeball, and with a whinny, his Rapidash, Jewel, shook her flaming mane. She stumbled a little bit, showing her paralysis from earlier in the match.
"Jewel, Agility and Double Team!" She broke out into a wide run, gaining speed considerably. Then there were two, three, four Rapidash whirling around the whole field.
I winced. She had been considerably fiesty, and I had planned to rely on her dinished speed as a result of the paralyzation to win. This would be tricky. Flygon's incredible wing-beating stopped generating soundwaves, but still remained invisible. So Flygon's tiring too…He must have lost the speed boost from his first Agility. The second one should still last a while.
"Flygon, Draco Meteor!"
"Uy-roo-aaaaaah!" Flygon called out, spiting a ball of dark dragonfire into the sky. It exploded and rained down growing stones, all burning with maroon flames. Two of the Rapidash were vaporized by it, and the real one crashed through one of the copies trying to avoid the downpour. The fake vanished, and Flygon surged straight at it.
"Jewel, Megahorn, knock it back, then rush it with Flare Blitz!"
"Flygon, Sand Tomb! Trap it!"
Rapidash pierced Flygon with a green glowing horn as it reached her. Flygon wailed in pain, the sound hurting my ears and heart, but he still whipped up a dust devil, the sand so thick Rapidash was completely hidden. "Roost!" I called desperately, hoping he could recover in time. His wings swiftly folded in, and Flygon landed apprehensively, letting his body recover. It was only a few seconds before the swirling sand slowed down and out charged a fiery, angry blur.
Rapidash was running at full speed, lancing at Flygon. He had no time to react, but instinctively, I still cried out, "Stone Edge!" Rapidash was nigh upon Flygon, when suddenly, her legs faltered, as if she had tripped, and her eyes winced shut. Flygon had just enough time to will up sharpened slabs of stone, commanding them forward as Rapidash crashed straight into the rocks.
As she landed in the dirt, a cliched cloud of dust billowed out and around, obscuring the two Pokemon.
Suddenly remembering the prescence of the audience as they clamored, whistling, booing, applauding, I held my breath. "Whirlwind the dust away," I yelled tenatively.
The churn of wings was audible as Flygon automatically rised, blasting the force of his wings into the settling cloud. Rapidash was unmoving.
"Jewel the Rapidash is unable to battle! Jake Willow is the winner and will advance to the final round!"
I lost myself a little in the glory of the moment. I listened only vaguely to the speech given by the spectators up in their box. I walked over to Flygon, who uncharacteristically was laying on his side, wings limp, his head twisted upwards, eyes wide and watching the people in the stadium. It seemed to get quiet.
"Come on, Flygon, get up. Are you okay?"
Flygon merely snorted, but slowly climbed up, then flashed his signature smirk that only I ever noticed, and blasted a lengthy Flamethrower. The crowd roared with applause. As it died down I caught the last bit of the megaphone-enhanced speech.
"…Shall face Andrew Robins in seven days time, in the Grande Clash Stadium!"
I registered the 25th as my next battle date. I would definitely take the next day off then the rest battling relentlessly.
I departed from the arena, after apprehensively recalling Flygon.
***
The Grande Clash stadium was in Jubilife City, so I made it my first stop. I talked with Flygon as I rested routinely on his back as he flew, near the crook of the base of his neck. "Flygon," I began, "What was wrong after the battle?"
Flygon turned his head back and his red-tinted eyes glinted as they met mine. He flapped his wings, warily. I sensed something truly wasn't okay.
"I'm not sure myself, Jake. I felt terribly drained afterwards. I actually passed out, but only for a moment or so. I felt like I was in a trance or something. Like a Gastly used Hypnosis and I felt myself forcibly get drowsy. The next thing I knew, I was dimly aware I'd won us the battle. I was almost too tired to move." Flygon then clenched his jaw and I heard the soft grinding of his fangs.
I started thinking, too fast. "I'm sorry…it's my fault. I made you battle too hard." I stroked his smooth, almost leathery green hide. I saw tiny muscles relax a little.
Flygon flapped powerfully again. We were almost to the tall buildings of Jubilife. "Don't worry about it, Jake. And it wasn't your fault. It will never be your fault," he asserted. This only made me worry more. But I told him sorry anyway, then said I wouldn't worry so much. This contented Flygon, and he skillfully took us the rest of the way to Jubilife.
***
While walking alone in the populated streets, several people came up to me, babbling about the match, pleading for an autograph, a few booing me(I cared not), but one person, of many who wished me good luck, left an imprint on me.
His hair was a wierd pale blonde, and solidly so. There was no highlight whatsoever, and when he shook his head, it seemed to ripple too much. His eyes were seemingly an innocent brown, but occasionally they aquired a cyan-blue tint. His mouth was ever unexpressive, neutral. His clothes were odd, too. He was in a plain button-up collared shirt, the inside of the collar red, the rest black. His pants were also plain black, but ripped to tatters near the bottom. He was barefoot.
No one seemed to notice the boy, and the first thing I did when he strode gracefully up to me was observe that he looked my age, possibly a fellow Trainer. I took in his odd appearance; I'd never noticed him in my travelings. Late start, maybe?
My thoughts were cut short as he spoke in a too young voice that almost gave me a chill.
"J-Jake Willow?" He made an extremely boyish grin. It looked wrong on him. "Good luck!"
I blinked, preparing my routine answer to people who so often came up to me in public. But when I opened my eyes, he had skittered away into the crowd, bounding again like a little boy in a mature body. I blinked again and he was gone, an awkward gap left in front of me. It took me a minute to remember what I was doing.
It was late afternoon when I had walked the rest of the way to Canalave. I wanted to get in some aquatic training-the field type was water. Briefly having looked at my foe's public roster, I had chosen my three Pokemon-Flygon, Manectric, and Gallade. I only had them on my belt. I stopped in the Pokecenter for a brief, early dinner, then headed to just outside the town, two terrains meeting in the form of sandless banks with high-tide waves frothing constantly into the grass, and a dense but rather small forest. I sent out my partners.
They all stretched their limbs and personally tested a few attacks on the air and surrounding trees, searching for something in particular to hone. It was only a warm up-day, today. I was watching the sun sink slowly, when Manectric suddenly growled deeply and fired a straight Thunderbolt into some bushes. Flygon and Gallade immediately turned to look. There was a lot of rustling.
"What was that about, Ma-", I started but halted mid-sentence, for deep within the stereotypical black between the tops of the shrubery and the bottoms of the trees, I saw a semicircular turquoise shape. It vanished and a swish of the foliage and faraway white-grey and black cloaked It.
Manectric repeated his growl than barked angrily. He opened his jaws and fired a sub-par but distance-reaching Flamethrower. The bushes caught, then fizzled out. I saw the bright turquoise semicircle again. It flared white for a moment, then out of the blackness appeared, dark purple, spiralling waves of energy. I recognized the attack as Dark Pulse. Manectric hardly had time to move when it smashed head-on into his blue-furred chest. I sprinted towards him as he collapsed.
His eyes snapped back open, and steadily rose to his paws. Suddenly, an orb of the same dark purple color flew from the bushes and swiftly enveloped Manectric. The wolf-dog shuddered and collapsed, utterly still.
I had no idea what was going on. We were under attack by some unseen Pokemon I'd never heard of! And my dear Electric-type was mired in a deep sleep. I felt his body start to twitch in my arms. I felt he was in pain, and I was helpless.
Flygon and Gallade both leaped in front of me, protecting me and Manectric.
The turquoise appeared again, the bushes rustling noisily. I thought I heard a deep, human roar as more violet orbs were launched towards me and my Pokemon.
Flygon roared in his soprano tone, jumping forwards and spreading his wings, defending Gallade and I with his stretched out form. I cried out in terror, too scared to give instruction to my partners. Flygon was cloaked by a large sphere, then he fell to the ground with a dull thump. He also began to shudder, slightly then violently. I pulled Manectric with me to Flygon's body and held him tightly. Small groans of unmistakeable agony escaped his throat.
Gallade had taken up the role as our hero, leaping valiantly above more of the black-purple orbs. He flexed out one of his blades, closed his eyes a moment, then swung his arm, launching a Psycho Cut. I was thankful to have Pokemon who could fight on their own when needed.
The pink energy blade quickly dissipated as it hit the unknown Pokemon attacking us. Gallade growled, seeing it had no effect, and fired two more. They both met the same fate as the first. Then the Pokemon emerged from its hiding place.
At first I thought it was another oddly-dressed human, but then I took a second look and saw what could only be described as an unholy monster.
A long, rippling wave of white matter undulated from the Pokemon's face, hidden partially by what to me looked like thick red thorns. Within the red and white was Its cyan eye.
Its shoulders both had additional black waving matter. Its arms were long and disproportionate, ending in triangular claw-like fingers, and the thing truly had an hourglass figure-a tiny waist that flared widely out into what looked faintly like a skirt of long black thorns. It looked in no way feminine though, but ferocious, a demon, floating ever so tauntingly.
Gallade also seemed frozen to his place, but he shook his crested head and leaped forward, preparing to engage this terrifying abomination of a Pokemon in Close Combat.
The black mystery Pokemon vanished, then reappeared behind Gallade.
I screamed, "Watch out!" but no sound escaped my lips.
The hulking nightmare latched Its thorn-like fingers around Gallade's neck. It squeezed tightly, and with Its other arm prepared another deep purple orb.
"NO!!!!" I managed to shriek.
The ghoulish Pokemon, if It even was one, turned a cyan eye to me, and I swear the thing smiled.
It relinquished Gallade, who collapsed heavily in the grass. It rotated the rest of its body to face me. It stared at me with its one visible eye. It….It…It.
The Pokemon surged forwards, stopping merely inched from my face. The thing poured a powerful evil aura from its mangled body, and I felt sick. I wanted to puke. I wanted to die. Anything to get away from this demon! I'd do it myself if I had to. I heard myself chuckle childishly at the twisted thought.
At least, I thought it was me who giggled.
I stood simply frozen, drowning in the thick, stagnant air that radiated from the nightmare. I couldn't utter a sound, couldnt move at all. Couldn't breathe.
My mind screamed in agony, and right when I thought I would suffocate, there was a voice.
"Catch me if you can…!!"
I knew that voice. I knew. That voice.
It was the fan who had wished me nothing but "Good luck", the guy who was my age but had the voice of a little boy.
What was that supposed to mean?
My slowed down brain made another realization-the boy and the freakish Pokemon looked unbelievably alike.
"What are you?!?!" I shouted out loudly, as loud as I could. My voice cracked three octaves higher halfway through the exclamation.
The thing made a mind-wrenching giggle. It was gross and disturbing, such a pure, innocent young voice belonging to this demonic nightmare.
One large cyan eye stared emotionless at me, contradicting itself.
"Me?? I'm just like any other Pokemon you'd catch. Heehee, why do you think I started battling you? I wished you good luck. Obviously you needed it, your Pokemon are weaklings!"
I became enraged at the notion, my sight flaring red for a moment. But I was choked up still from Its mismatched voice and body, and I couldn't protest. It closed its turquoise eye, and again gave the appearance of an endearing smile.
"Catch me, Jake Willow. Catch me! I want to be your Pokemon! I've been waiting for someone who I wanted to be with."
Suddenly the vice on my nerves was lifted, and I gasped in air, trembling.
"H-how…am I supposed to catch you…when-" I was forcing the words out, unsure of what to say to this horrible fiend.
"Ga-LLADE!" My Pokemon called out its name in an answer. He had drawn himself back onto his feet, running nimbly at the abomination. He knocked his extended blades together and cried as he punched, kicked, and slashed at the black being.
Every time, It would vanish and appear out of Gallade's field of sight.
"Catch me if you can," The thing giggled, its whole body shaking with the laughter of an innocent child. It vanished again, this time reappearing with a pinkish glow around It. The Pokemon yelled in its kindergarten voice, and Gallade was caught by the Psychic. He glowed pink and was lifted up effortlessly.
"What-are-you?!?!" Gallade repeated my question.
The nightmare Pokemon chuckled again. "You mean my name? Why, I'm Darkrai. A Pokemon just like you, created by our Arceus. You should know this, silly."
So this abomination was called Darkrai? Better than just saying It, I supposed grimly.
Gallade groaned and struggled, but Darkrai began toying with him, tossing and shaking him around like a helpless ragdoll. Darkrai resumed laughing like a child, giggling lke there was no tommorow. However, the sound began to transform into twisted, maniacal, sadistic guffawing, still in that horrible boy voice.
My Gallade was still hanging, suspended, when Darkrai roared ferociously, and Gallade was flung violently about, shrieking in pain, his eyes staring to bulge out uncontrollably, his mouth craned open as far as it would go. I suddenly felt hot tears sliding down my face, my own mouth gaping open, watching one of my closest friends physically and mentally tortured by some childish abomination.
A trickle of red oozed from the corner of Gallade's mouth. His cries of pain were now devoid of energy; miserable wails, until he managed to shout,
"Throw a Pokeball, dammit!"
The thought and command slapped me hard, I snapped into true Trainer mode and blindly reached to my backpack. All I had were a Premier Ball and a few spare Quick Balls.
I grabbed the white and red Premier ball and flung it toward the thing called Darkrai as hard as I could. The black Pokemon didn't even see it coming until it bounced off the top of its head, but by then it had ricoched up and opened, sucking in the Dark-type in deep red light.
I payed no attention to the ball wobbling on the ground, but threw off my backpack and dashed to Gallade, who had collapsed in a shuddering heap, spasming and uttering pitiful cries of pain.
"How could this happen, I don't know, I don't know, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, it should have been me, it should have been me in pain, you don't deserve it Gallade I'm a terrible Trainer, I'm so sorry. You don't deserve such a terrible Trainer, you don't ever have to forgive me-"
The sound of a Pokeball bursting open filled me with pure dread as a hulking black figure loomed over me, and I screamed. Cyan eyes gleamed with magenta as Darkrai fired another Psychic, wrenching Gallade out of my arms and above where I could reach him.
I only had one choice. I bolted back to my backpack, fumbled for a Pokeball, when I heard a terrible CRACK. I simultaneously turned around and threw the futile Quick Ball, to see Gallade suspended
erect,
except for
his head
rotating haplessly,
splattered with red
upon his broken neck.
I screamed as loud as I could as Darkrai was again sucked into the Pokeball, which dropped harmlessly to the ground
and wobbled three times. There was a small ding.
I didn't even notice. I fell to the ground with Gallade, and blacked out.
***
Though it felt like years, merely moments later I faded back into consciensness. My eyes were puffy and red and I could hardly see, and my hair was plastered to my face from tears. I couldn't stop shaking, and I wandered slowly around the scene, a zombie unsure of where to go.
I made my way to Manectric and Flygon, now in a deep, peaceful, lasting sleep. I recalled them wordlessly in a flash of red light.
For a moment my brain overlapped on recent events, and I aimed Gallade's Pokeball at him. I touched the ball to his body. Nothing happened. His corpse. His neck was twisted violently, fatally to the side. It was all stained red. His eyes were open wide, begging for help.
"N-no.." I began crying again. I didn't know what to do. What did people do when their Pokemon-well-died?
Buried them. But I'd never be able to do that. I couldn't do that to someone who I loved. I couldn't put him underground. Even though there was no life in that body, that husk, it was still my beloved Gallade. I began to bawl loudly, when out of the corner of my eye-a yellow and blue striped Pokeball.
That thing rested within. That awful, horrible thing. Darkrai. It killed one of my closest friends. It murdered him in front of my eyes, and I caught the monster. It belonged to me.
I momentarily lost myself in thoughts of revenge, then shut them out, fearing they'd take over. I moved emptily to the Pokeball. I picked it up, flinching at the cold metal. Pokeballs were usually lukewarm due to the prescence of a Pokemon inside. The Ball still had Darkrai in it. I minimized it wordlessly and placed it on my belt. I picked up Gallade's body, though it smashed my already broken heart even more to do so, I dragged him behind a tree where no invasive wild Pokemon could see. I sent out Manectric and Flygon, still blissfully unaware in their now-calm sleep. Trembling, I pulled out two Awakenings from my bag and sprayed them. They twitched and tingled, and suddenly they blinked awake.
The first thing that they saw was me painfully closing Gallade's eyes and crossing his arms over his stomach. He looks just like he does when he naps, I thought in one last hope of seeing him wake and stretch, ready for a day of battle and adventure. But no. Gallade was dead.
I numbly told Flygon and Manectric what had happened.
They told me to slit Darkrai's throat.
I couldn't, for some reason. The terrible fiend had murdered my second Pokemon, my brother, for Arceus's sake, but I could never and would never bring myself to return the favor. For some reason I thought Darkrai was somehow ignorant, young but dangerous, unaware of its destructive power.
I told my Pokemon that the only thing we should to was to bury Gallade properly, and I needed their help for that. I said I'd talk to Darkrai alone, and decide from there. I didn't even understand that Pokemon. It was plain disturbing, the way it behaved.
I shook my head and said, "Manectric, start to burrow, Flygon, clear away the dirt."
We spent the next hour laying Gallade to rest. Gallade, who's whole species and evolution line was dedicated to serving and protecting their Trainer with their life.
I planted a berry and his Pokeball, signifying his grave, and recalled my two partners. Mindlessly I returned to Canalave. The Pokemon Center was closed, and as I checked my Pokegear I saw it was past two in the morning. Instead I walked stiffly and mindlessly to the town's Inn. I opened the door to find it open but empty. Without thinking, I entered a room and crawled into a bed. Then I remembered something faintly and sat back up.
I released Darkrai from its Pokeball.
"You killed my Pokemon," was all I could think to say. Luckily, or not so luckily, Darkrai was all too eager to respond.
"Pokemon are supposed to battle, and, and, the stronger Pokemon wins and the weaker Pokemon loses, sometimes forever." Darkrai still bantered in the voice of a six-year-old boy.
"But now its okay, because you caught me, just like I wanted you to. I wanted to be your Pokemon so I followed you. Then, I thought, that you might need some help catching me, because I always defeated other Pokemon forever before their trainers even thought to throw a Ball."
Darkrai grinned.
"It doesn't matter that you lost a Pokemon, now you have a new one to replace it. And I'll always be a good Pokemon. I'll do everything you say, and I'll be loyal no matter what happens. Because the reason that I know you're a good trainer, is because I'm here right now. You caught me. We battled, and you won. So I'm yours." Darkrai gave another almost expectant, endearing grin.
"I'm so happy I get to be your Pokemon!"
I was even more disturbed by this, the abomination truly had the mind of a child! I was at a loss for words, and as I let my eyes lock with Darkrai's, I met its eager smile. I could never go around training and battling with this thing! Without knowing it, the Pokemon could easily kill any other. I was terrified and awe-stricken.
"I watched you battle the other trainer, so I followed you in your shadow. You had to be strong enough to catch me. And you were. I'm so happy. So happy," Darkrai chattered with glee.
"…I'm going to sleep now, Darkrai. I'm going to recall you." My mind was utterly blank, and I was dumbstruck on what to do with this innocent-minded killer. I'd figure it out in the morning.
Before the talkative demon could say anymore, I recalled it and fell backwards into a soft pillow.
I thought I'd fall alseep quickly, but my brain was speeding with empty thoughts and scenarios. It must have been an hour before I conjured to the surface of my thinking that Darkrai was the Pokemon of sleep. Hoping I wouldn't regret it, I let out the mentally hyperactive Pokemon.
"Darkrai…you said you were my Pokemon, right?" Never. You'd never really be my Pokemon.
"Yes, oh yes, Jake Willow, I'll always be your Pokemon, I'll never abandon you. I'll do whatever you want."
"You made my Pokemon fall asleep, right?" I felt like some vital piece of information was missing.
After a few eager "yes's", I cut Darkrai off. "Does it work on humans?"
More excited yes's.
"Darkrai, I want you to put me to sleep. Since you can't recall yourself into your Ball, wait until I get up before you do anything else." I felt slightly bad, exploiting Darkrai's so called loyalty, but I only needed a few hours of sleep to recharge.
"Ok, ok, Jake Willow, just close your eyes. Let me take care of the rest." Again, something wasn't clicking.
"Dark….Void!" Darkrai shot a dark purple sphere at me. The color was all I saw, then nothing.
***
I was back in the forest, watching Gallade flail helplessly in the air, shooken around so violently that he hacked up blood that got on my face. I was completely immobile. There was no other thing around other than a mangled, spiky, shapeless horror, that tormented Gallade so. Its bellows of laughter were the screams of death.
Gallade's contorted face imprinted me deeply; bulging wide eyes, stretched out mouth that gurgled and foamed red. His screams were the worst, inhuman and deteriorating as Gallade's head wrenched sharply to a side, and a fountain of red drizzled forth.
I was suddenly watching Flygon charged down by a massive flaming horse, whose horn cleaved him straight through.
Manectric's flesh melted away as hot violet waves pummeled him to the ground.
The deaths of my Pokemon looped through, each time more gruesome and violent, bloody and brutal. They began to happen faster and fasted until all I could hear or see was the last expression my Pokemon made and their last shrieks to end their misery. I could do nothing but watch them die
over
and over
and over.
***
Darkrai, the Nightmare Pokemon.
Though this unique legendary usually means no harm due to its permanent child mentality, DARKRAI causes never-ending nightmares to every sleeping creature around it. This is made even more dangerous when coupled with the fact that since most Trainers who encounter DARKRAI are unaware of the side-effects of using DARKRAI to cure insomnia. It is sometimes thought that the POKEMON itself doesn't acknowlege how it puts other people and POKEMON in danger of never waking up.
***
I waited there, just like my Trainer had told me, cheery and undaunted by the task he had entrusted me with. I hovered, lost in thought blissfully, until I had realized it had been a few days. Jake Willow told me to wait until he decided to get up, and I couldn't get impatient. So I continued to wait there loyally, trusting that any moment Jake would feel he had rested enough and take me out to train.
But I had started paying attention to Jake as he slept, and saw that he tended to twitch and make a lot of sounds. They were bad sounds, the sounds Pokemon made when you defeated them. I couldn't tell what was the matter, so I thought it might be normal when people sleep to make those noises. I never watched people sleep anyway. It was probably normal, right?
So I didn't worry and continued to wait. My internal sense of time said Jake was asleep for a week. As I looked at him again, he had begun to sink into the bed. His face looked taut and constricted, his body weak from twitching. Something had to be wrong, no one slept this long. But I heard him breathing. I didn't know what to think. There were little white bubbles at the sides of his mouth.
Maybe I was imagining things. I was bored and imagining. My Trainer was fine. I chose him because he was a strong trainer, so he had to be fine. Had to be.
***
I had no idea what was going on anymore, no idea who I was, no idea why I was seeing the things I was seeing.
Now there were more Pokemon who I watched get brutally murdered, every one of my friends, every one of my memories, twisted evilly into this red-stained atrocity.
They played in perfect order every time, getting faster and faster and sometimes I'd watch them all die at once, but sometimes they grew slow and endured more horrible torment before they could take no more.
Then as who knows how long time progressed, they changed, bites and pieces of them had been torn off. In their place were crudely sewn on human limbs, my limbs. I felt nothing but excruciating pain as soon all their arms were mine, all their legs were mine, they had no tails or wings, and they had no heads but bloodied stumps.
***
Jake Willow had begun screaming and tossing around in his sleep, the white bubbles that formed turned pink and sometimes dark red leaked out. I had examined his body and found no injuries or signs of illness. He was quite small around, I observed. His ribs and pelvis were sticking out a lot, and as I discovered that my sense of time said it had been seventeen days.
People don't sleep for seventeen days, something was wrong but what could I do? If I went for help I'd be disobeying him. Besides, who would I go to? No one no one no one.
I stared endlessly at my trainer. I'd be here for him, be loyal forever no matter what.
***
I often lost myself and saw nothing but white or black for long periods of time, everything was slowing down, slowing. Maybe my friends would stop dying, maybe they could be alive again!
I screamed and argued with myself, that they were dead, that they were alive, but soon I had no will to. I was awfully tired. I needed to rest. I let go of my thoughts.
***
Jake Willow had stopped shaking and yelling so I thought for sure he was getting better, that we'd go and explore and battle together now. But no. No. Jake kept sleeping, and I was finally weary of being posted by his side; when my sense of time announced twenty-three days I leaned down and listened for his breath.
I heard nothing.
He was gone,
gone,
gone,
why? Why? I smashed the blue-and-yellow ball I was caught in. I vanished away, scared to find out he answer.
***
On February 25th, Andrew Robins won the title of Champion by default, his opposition nowhere to be found. Jake Willow was then decided missing and many fans of his began a search party. Robins aided vigorously; feeling he'd become Champion unfairly. After ten days of searching dilligently, the party was empty-handed. But yesterday morning, they discovered the body of a fifteen-year-old boy in a room at the Canalave Inn who was positively identified as Willow. His Pokemon have been sent to his parent's ranch in Johto.
Autopsies revealed that he died of malnutrition. There were also significant amounts of brain damage that likely resulted a in a violent coma. Cause of said sudden brain damage are unknown, though the disintegration of brain cells occured only in areas of voluntary control; possibly due to overexposure to an unknown wave, radiation, or force.
There is a strangely similar death that occured three years ago to another up-and-coming teenage battling sensation who was destined for greatness. Near the boy's death site an extremely rare Pokemon of childhood legends was seen fleetingly, and officials' drawings of eyewitness accounts, they determined the mystery Pokemon to be Darkrai.
The full extent and purpose of Darkrai's unique powers are unknown, due to it being so elusive, but the Pokemon is know to use sleep-inducing moves. According to the sparing Darkrai sightings, the Pokemon's mere prescence causes nightmares to those sleeping around it, and until Darkrai leaves the surrounding area, the bad dreams continue.
Detectives are now swiftly piecing together a likely scenario to explain what happened to young Jake Willow, as his many fans, friends, and family are holding a large funeral at […]
The Sinnoh Weekly, Third week of March
Anywhoo, enjoy and let me know if there's anything I can improve on. This is my first official Pokemon story, though definitely not my first work of writing.
Rated pg-13 for one instance of mild language and gruesome, violent images.
Dark Void
They always told me I was an amazing trainer. When I was little, I was always immersed into the culture and hype of the creatures. My parents were breeders, so I grew up surrounded by many of the hundreds of kinds of them. They were my pets, when I was an infant. Very soon after I could speak, I began to learn about them. Their types, how they grew up, their behavior in the wild, the many different abilities they posessed and the attacks they performed. If I had ever attended in Academic schools, I would have excelled. But no. I channelled all my energy, all my being into learning about them. My tenth birthday, I passed my practical test and got my trainer's liscence. I was more than enthusiastic, zealous. They were my life. Pokemon were my life.
***
"Go, Flygon!"
I hurled the shiny red ball, a Cherish ball, into the arena. It opened with a burst of colorful rays, a lean dragon materializing from white to a cool lime green.
"Urrraaaaayuu!" Flygon cried energetically, spreading his diamond-shaped wings wide and flourishing his tail about, perched up on his hind paws. On the opposite side was an easily recognizable form-a large orange dragonic Pokemon, with a cream belly, standing on two thick legs, whipping around a flame-tipped tail.
The Charizard was already tired. He growled menacingly at the Flygon, knowing it would take him down.
I smirked. Flygon was indeed my last Pokemon, and I was backed into a corner. But he was my trump card. My foe was a battler who used primarily Fire-types. His name I could care less about, but he really was a formidable foe so far. The battle was three to one. Still I remained confident. There was a paralyzed Rapidash still in his inventory. His own last Pokemon had yet to been revealed. I was still confident. Flygon had the type advantage against Charizard, and likely his last member. The battle had indeed been brutal, but my team could handle it. They were like my brothers and sisters.
And me? I'm Jake. The battling prodigy destined to become a legend. I've been from Kanto to Sinnoh and back. But Johto is like my second home; I was born and raised there until I set out on a ferry to start out like all the bigshots and wannabes did, from Pallet Town. I was there before the biggest annual influx of young Trainers, and even so, already had three Pokemon. Of course, they were all pets who had long before decided to join me when it was time. They were quite low-leveled for having lived for a few years already, so they seemed to grow somewhat faster than usual when we began journeying. I easily kept up the pace, clearing Gym battle after Gym battle, catching new friends and taking part in the Indigo League. I attracted quite a few eyes, having some Pokemon from Johto. I lost in the finals, but still recieved a complimentary interview that were usually exclusive to the Champion. They said I was destined to become a top-trainer, and that after I was done traveling, would make a fearsome competitive battler.
I wanted to competitively battle as an adult. And here I am, at fifteen, in the Sinnoh league. Yeah, it took me five years to get through four regions, because I spent tons of time training new friends and searching for rare Pokemon.
Here I am, fifteen, the Sinnoh League.
"Flygon, Agility then Stone Edge it!"
Flygon immediately began to churn his wings, rising into the air and hovering for a moment, then speeding around the panting Charizard in a circle, faster and faster. The force of my beloved starter's wings sent up clouds of sand and stones in the Rock-type themed arena. The Charizard grunted and growled, glancing anxiously at his trainer for a command.
"Charizard…Heat wave!" His trainer was clever, using the vacuum created by Flygon's speed against him. But as Charizard pulled his wings up to cast flames into the vortex, the green dragon had already summoned big, sharp rocks from the ground, and hurled them into the panting Charizard. The Fire-type roared painfully, and fell, faint trails of smoke curled out from his nostrils.
Without a word, my adversary recalled his(assumed) starter. He gritted his teeth, and threw out a Dusk Ball. Out from it burst a snarling black cerebus, Houndoom. Flygon had flew back to my side of the field and hovered in place, wary. "Houndoom, Will-O-Wisp."
A tangle of blue-white flames erupted from the Houndoom's jaws, spewed in a fast-moving cluster.
"Flygon, quick, fly up and over the Houndoom!"
As Flygon powered up, accelerating fast, the fireball slightly changed direction, but fizzled out as the gust from Flygon's wings dissipated it. My foe immediately barked, "Flamethrower!" Houndoom loosed a stream of fire up at my Flygon. It might have reached him if I hadn't replied, "Agility again to blow it out, then dive!"
Flygon's wings, already beating so fast they were invisible, a blur of green sound waves. Houndoom shook his head in discomfort at their loudness. The vibrating waves ate through the Flamethrower. Flygon arced upwards, did a mid-air backflip, and zoomed to the ground as fast as a bullet. Good, I thought, he knows what I meant.
Flygon landed with a front-flip, slamming his tail into the ground. The earth surged upwards, red-hot and rippling with an unmistakeable Earthquake. Huge slabs of the ground smothered Houndoom with a fearful, high-pitched yelp. They receded then vanished, leaving the unconscious dog.
My heart breathed a little sigh of relief. His Rapidash couldn't pose too much a threat…
The trainer opposite me recalled Houndoom with a grudge-filled glare. My eyes stared coolly back. He threw his last Pokeball, and with a whinny, his Rapidash, Jewel, shook her flaming mane. She stumbled a little bit, showing her paralysis from earlier in the match.
"Jewel, Agility and Double Team!" She broke out into a wide run, gaining speed considerably. Then there were two, three, four Rapidash whirling around the whole field.
I winced. She had been considerably fiesty, and I had planned to rely on her dinished speed as a result of the paralyzation to win. This would be tricky. Flygon's incredible wing-beating stopped generating soundwaves, but still remained invisible. So Flygon's tiring too…He must have lost the speed boost from his first Agility. The second one should still last a while.
"Flygon, Draco Meteor!"
"Uy-roo-aaaaaah!" Flygon called out, spiting a ball of dark dragonfire into the sky. It exploded and rained down growing stones, all burning with maroon flames. Two of the Rapidash were vaporized by it, and the real one crashed through one of the copies trying to avoid the downpour. The fake vanished, and Flygon surged straight at it.
"Jewel, Megahorn, knock it back, then rush it with Flare Blitz!"
"Flygon, Sand Tomb! Trap it!"
Rapidash pierced Flygon with a green glowing horn as it reached her. Flygon wailed in pain, the sound hurting my ears and heart, but he still whipped up a dust devil, the sand so thick Rapidash was completely hidden. "Roost!" I called desperately, hoping he could recover in time. His wings swiftly folded in, and Flygon landed apprehensively, letting his body recover. It was only a few seconds before the swirling sand slowed down and out charged a fiery, angry blur.
Rapidash was running at full speed, lancing at Flygon. He had no time to react, but instinctively, I still cried out, "Stone Edge!" Rapidash was nigh upon Flygon, when suddenly, her legs faltered, as if she had tripped, and her eyes winced shut. Flygon had just enough time to will up sharpened slabs of stone, commanding them forward as Rapidash crashed straight into the rocks.
As she landed in the dirt, a cliched cloud of dust billowed out and around, obscuring the two Pokemon.
Suddenly remembering the prescence of the audience as they clamored, whistling, booing, applauding, I held my breath. "Whirlwind the dust away," I yelled tenatively.
The churn of wings was audible as Flygon automatically rised, blasting the force of his wings into the settling cloud. Rapidash was unmoving.
"Jewel the Rapidash is unable to battle! Jake Willow is the winner and will advance to the final round!"
I lost myself a little in the glory of the moment. I listened only vaguely to the speech given by the spectators up in their box. I walked over to Flygon, who uncharacteristically was laying on his side, wings limp, his head twisted upwards, eyes wide and watching the people in the stadium. It seemed to get quiet.
"Come on, Flygon, get up. Are you okay?"
Flygon merely snorted, but slowly climbed up, then flashed his signature smirk that only I ever noticed, and blasted a lengthy Flamethrower. The crowd roared with applause. As it died down I caught the last bit of the megaphone-enhanced speech.
"…Shall face Andrew Robins in seven days time, in the Grande Clash Stadium!"
I registered the 25th as my next battle date. I would definitely take the next day off then the rest battling relentlessly.
I departed from the arena, after apprehensively recalling Flygon.
***
The Grande Clash stadium was in Jubilife City, so I made it my first stop. I talked with Flygon as I rested routinely on his back as he flew, near the crook of the base of his neck. "Flygon," I began, "What was wrong after the battle?"
Flygon turned his head back and his red-tinted eyes glinted as they met mine. He flapped his wings, warily. I sensed something truly wasn't okay.
"I'm not sure myself, Jake. I felt terribly drained afterwards. I actually passed out, but only for a moment or so. I felt like I was in a trance or something. Like a Gastly used Hypnosis and I felt myself forcibly get drowsy. The next thing I knew, I was dimly aware I'd won us the battle. I was almost too tired to move." Flygon then clenched his jaw and I heard the soft grinding of his fangs.
I started thinking, too fast. "I'm sorry…it's my fault. I made you battle too hard." I stroked his smooth, almost leathery green hide. I saw tiny muscles relax a little.
Flygon flapped powerfully again. We were almost to the tall buildings of Jubilife. "Don't worry about it, Jake. And it wasn't your fault. It will never be your fault," he asserted. This only made me worry more. But I told him sorry anyway, then said I wouldn't worry so much. This contented Flygon, and he skillfully took us the rest of the way to Jubilife.
***
While walking alone in the populated streets, several people came up to me, babbling about the match, pleading for an autograph, a few booing me(I cared not), but one person, of many who wished me good luck, left an imprint on me.
His hair was a wierd pale blonde, and solidly so. There was no highlight whatsoever, and when he shook his head, it seemed to ripple too much. His eyes were seemingly an innocent brown, but occasionally they aquired a cyan-blue tint. His mouth was ever unexpressive, neutral. His clothes were odd, too. He was in a plain button-up collared shirt, the inside of the collar red, the rest black. His pants were also plain black, but ripped to tatters near the bottom. He was barefoot.
No one seemed to notice the boy, and the first thing I did when he strode gracefully up to me was observe that he looked my age, possibly a fellow Trainer. I took in his odd appearance; I'd never noticed him in my travelings. Late start, maybe?
My thoughts were cut short as he spoke in a too young voice that almost gave me a chill.
"J-Jake Willow?" He made an extremely boyish grin. It looked wrong on him. "Good luck!"
I blinked, preparing my routine answer to people who so often came up to me in public. But when I opened my eyes, he had skittered away into the crowd, bounding again like a little boy in a mature body. I blinked again and he was gone, an awkward gap left in front of me. It took me a minute to remember what I was doing.
It was late afternoon when I had walked the rest of the way to Canalave. I wanted to get in some aquatic training-the field type was water. Briefly having looked at my foe's public roster, I had chosen my three Pokemon-Flygon, Manectric, and Gallade. I only had them on my belt. I stopped in the Pokecenter for a brief, early dinner, then headed to just outside the town, two terrains meeting in the form of sandless banks with high-tide waves frothing constantly into the grass, and a dense but rather small forest. I sent out my partners.
They all stretched their limbs and personally tested a few attacks on the air and surrounding trees, searching for something in particular to hone. It was only a warm up-day, today. I was watching the sun sink slowly, when Manectric suddenly growled deeply and fired a straight Thunderbolt into some bushes. Flygon and Gallade immediately turned to look. There was a lot of rustling.
"What was that about, Ma-", I started but halted mid-sentence, for deep within the stereotypical black between the tops of the shrubery and the bottoms of the trees, I saw a semicircular turquoise shape. It vanished and a swish of the foliage and faraway white-grey and black cloaked It.
Manectric repeated his growl than barked angrily. He opened his jaws and fired a sub-par but distance-reaching Flamethrower. The bushes caught, then fizzled out. I saw the bright turquoise semicircle again. It flared white for a moment, then out of the blackness appeared, dark purple, spiralling waves of energy. I recognized the attack as Dark Pulse. Manectric hardly had time to move when it smashed head-on into his blue-furred chest. I sprinted towards him as he collapsed.
His eyes snapped back open, and steadily rose to his paws. Suddenly, an orb of the same dark purple color flew from the bushes and swiftly enveloped Manectric. The wolf-dog shuddered and collapsed, utterly still.
I had no idea what was going on. We were under attack by some unseen Pokemon I'd never heard of! And my dear Electric-type was mired in a deep sleep. I felt his body start to twitch in my arms. I felt he was in pain, and I was helpless.
Flygon and Gallade both leaped in front of me, protecting me and Manectric.
The turquoise appeared again, the bushes rustling noisily. I thought I heard a deep, human roar as more violet orbs were launched towards me and my Pokemon.
Flygon roared in his soprano tone, jumping forwards and spreading his wings, defending Gallade and I with his stretched out form. I cried out in terror, too scared to give instruction to my partners. Flygon was cloaked by a large sphere, then he fell to the ground with a dull thump. He also began to shudder, slightly then violently. I pulled Manectric with me to Flygon's body and held him tightly. Small groans of unmistakeable agony escaped his throat.
Gallade had taken up the role as our hero, leaping valiantly above more of the black-purple orbs. He flexed out one of his blades, closed his eyes a moment, then swung his arm, launching a Psycho Cut. I was thankful to have Pokemon who could fight on their own when needed.
The pink energy blade quickly dissipated as it hit the unknown Pokemon attacking us. Gallade growled, seeing it had no effect, and fired two more. They both met the same fate as the first. Then the Pokemon emerged from its hiding place.
At first I thought it was another oddly-dressed human, but then I took a second look and saw what could only be described as an unholy monster.
A long, rippling wave of white matter undulated from the Pokemon's face, hidden partially by what to me looked like thick red thorns. Within the red and white was Its cyan eye.
Its shoulders both had additional black waving matter. Its arms were long and disproportionate, ending in triangular claw-like fingers, and the thing truly had an hourglass figure-a tiny waist that flared widely out into what looked faintly like a skirt of long black thorns. It looked in no way feminine though, but ferocious, a demon, floating ever so tauntingly.
Gallade also seemed frozen to his place, but he shook his crested head and leaped forward, preparing to engage this terrifying abomination of a Pokemon in Close Combat.
The black mystery Pokemon vanished, then reappeared behind Gallade.
I screamed, "Watch out!" but no sound escaped my lips.
The hulking nightmare latched Its thorn-like fingers around Gallade's neck. It squeezed tightly, and with Its other arm prepared another deep purple orb.
"NO!!!!" I managed to shriek.
The ghoulish Pokemon, if It even was one, turned a cyan eye to me, and I swear the thing smiled.
It relinquished Gallade, who collapsed heavily in the grass. It rotated the rest of its body to face me. It stared at me with its one visible eye. It….It…It.
The Pokemon surged forwards, stopping merely inched from my face. The thing poured a powerful evil aura from its mangled body, and I felt sick. I wanted to puke. I wanted to die. Anything to get away from this demon! I'd do it myself if I had to. I heard myself chuckle childishly at the twisted thought.
At least, I thought it was me who giggled.
I stood simply frozen, drowning in the thick, stagnant air that radiated from the nightmare. I couldn't utter a sound, couldnt move at all. Couldn't breathe.
My mind screamed in agony, and right when I thought I would suffocate, there was a voice.
"Catch me if you can…!!"
I knew that voice. I knew. That voice.
It was the fan who had wished me nothing but "Good luck", the guy who was my age but had the voice of a little boy.
What was that supposed to mean?
My slowed down brain made another realization-the boy and the freakish Pokemon looked unbelievably alike.
"What are you?!?!" I shouted out loudly, as loud as I could. My voice cracked three octaves higher halfway through the exclamation.
The thing made a mind-wrenching giggle. It was gross and disturbing, such a pure, innocent young voice belonging to this demonic nightmare.
One large cyan eye stared emotionless at me, contradicting itself.
"Me?? I'm just like any other Pokemon you'd catch. Heehee, why do you think I started battling you? I wished you good luck. Obviously you needed it, your Pokemon are weaklings!"
I became enraged at the notion, my sight flaring red for a moment. But I was choked up still from Its mismatched voice and body, and I couldn't protest. It closed its turquoise eye, and again gave the appearance of an endearing smile.
"Catch me, Jake Willow. Catch me! I want to be your Pokemon! I've been waiting for someone who I wanted to be with."
Suddenly the vice on my nerves was lifted, and I gasped in air, trembling.
"H-how…am I supposed to catch you…when-" I was forcing the words out, unsure of what to say to this horrible fiend.
"Ga-LLADE!" My Pokemon called out its name in an answer. He had drawn himself back onto his feet, running nimbly at the abomination. He knocked his extended blades together and cried as he punched, kicked, and slashed at the black being.
Every time, It would vanish and appear out of Gallade's field of sight.
"Catch me if you can," The thing giggled, its whole body shaking with the laughter of an innocent child. It vanished again, this time reappearing with a pinkish glow around It. The Pokemon yelled in its kindergarten voice, and Gallade was caught by the Psychic. He glowed pink and was lifted up effortlessly.
"What-are-you?!?!" Gallade repeated my question.
The nightmare Pokemon chuckled again. "You mean my name? Why, I'm Darkrai. A Pokemon just like you, created by our Arceus. You should know this, silly."
So this abomination was called Darkrai? Better than just saying It, I supposed grimly.
Gallade groaned and struggled, but Darkrai began toying with him, tossing and shaking him around like a helpless ragdoll. Darkrai resumed laughing like a child, giggling lke there was no tommorow. However, the sound began to transform into twisted, maniacal, sadistic guffawing, still in that horrible boy voice.
My Gallade was still hanging, suspended, when Darkrai roared ferociously, and Gallade was flung violently about, shrieking in pain, his eyes staring to bulge out uncontrollably, his mouth craned open as far as it would go. I suddenly felt hot tears sliding down my face, my own mouth gaping open, watching one of my closest friends physically and mentally tortured by some childish abomination.
A trickle of red oozed from the corner of Gallade's mouth. His cries of pain were now devoid of energy; miserable wails, until he managed to shout,
"Throw a Pokeball, dammit!"
The thought and command slapped me hard, I snapped into true Trainer mode and blindly reached to my backpack. All I had were a Premier Ball and a few spare Quick Balls.
I grabbed the white and red Premier ball and flung it toward the thing called Darkrai as hard as I could. The black Pokemon didn't even see it coming until it bounced off the top of its head, but by then it had ricoched up and opened, sucking in the Dark-type in deep red light.
I payed no attention to the ball wobbling on the ground, but threw off my backpack and dashed to Gallade, who had collapsed in a shuddering heap, spasming and uttering pitiful cries of pain.
"How could this happen, I don't know, I don't know, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, it should have been me, it should have been me in pain, you don't deserve it Gallade I'm a terrible Trainer, I'm so sorry. You don't deserve such a terrible Trainer, you don't ever have to forgive me-"
The sound of a Pokeball bursting open filled me with pure dread as a hulking black figure loomed over me, and I screamed. Cyan eyes gleamed with magenta as Darkrai fired another Psychic, wrenching Gallade out of my arms and above where I could reach him.
I only had one choice. I bolted back to my backpack, fumbled for a Pokeball, when I heard a terrible CRACK. I simultaneously turned around and threw the futile Quick Ball, to see Gallade suspended
erect,
except for
his head
rotating haplessly,
splattered with red
upon his broken neck.
I screamed as loud as I could as Darkrai was again sucked into the Pokeball, which dropped harmlessly to the ground
and wobbled three times. There was a small ding.
I didn't even notice. I fell to the ground with Gallade, and blacked out.
***
Though it felt like years, merely moments later I faded back into consciensness. My eyes were puffy and red and I could hardly see, and my hair was plastered to my face from tears. I couldn't stop shaking, and I wandered slowly around the scene, a zombie unsure of where to go.
I made my way to Manectric and Flygon, now in a deep, peaceful, lasting sleep. I recalled them wordlessly in a flash of red light.
For a moment my brain overlapped on recent events, and I aimed Gallade's Pokeball at him. I touched the ball to his body. Nothing happened. His corpse. His neck was twisted violently, fatally to the side. It was all stained red. His eyes were open wide, begging for help.
"N-no.." I began crying again. I didn't know what to do. What did people do when their Pokemon-well-died?
Buried them. But I'd never be able to do that. I couldn't do that to someone who I loved. I couldn't put him underground. Even though there was no life in that body, that husk, it was still my beloved Gallade. I began to bawl loudly, when out of the corner of my eye-a yellow and blue striped Pokeball.
That thing rested within. That awful, horrible thing. Darkrai. It killed one of my closest friends. It murdered him in front of my eyes, and I caught the monster. It belonged to me.
I momentarily lost myself in thoughts of revenge, then shut them out, fearing they'd take over. I moved emptily to the Pokeball. I picked it up, flinching at the cold metal. Pokeballs were usually lukewarm due to the prescence of a Pokemon inside. The Ball still had Darkrai in it. I minimized it wordlessly and placed it on my belt. I picked up Gallade's body, though it smashed my already broken heart even more to do so, I dragged him behind a tree where no invasive wild Pokemon could see. I sent out Manectric and Flygon, still blissfully unaware in their now-calm sleep. Trembling, I pulled out two Awakenings from my bag and sprayed them. They twitched and tingled, and suddenly they blinked awake.
The first thing that they saw was me painfully closing Gallade's eyes and crossing his arms over his stomach. He looks just like he does when he naps, I thought in one last hope of seeing him wake and stretch, ready for a day of battle and adventure. But no. Gallade was dead.
I numbly told Flygon and Manectric what had happened.
They told me to slit Darkrai's throat.
I couldn't, for some reason. The terrible fiend had murdered my second Pokemon, my brother, for Arceus's sake, but I could never and would never bring myself to return the favor. For some reason I thought Darkrai was somehow ignorant, young but dangerous, unaware of its destructive power.
I told my Pokemon that the only thing we should to was to bury Gallade properly, and I needed their help for that. I said I'd talk to Darkrai alone, and decide from there. I didn't even understand that Pokemon. It was plain disturbing, the way it behaved.
I shook my head and said, "Manectric, start to burrow, Flygon, clear away the dirt."
We spent the next hour laying Gallade to rest. Gallade, who's whole species and evolution line was dedicated to serving and protecting their Trainer with their life.
I planted a berry and his Pokeball, signifying his grave, and recalled my two partners. Mindlessly I returned to Canalave. The Pokemon Center was closed, and as I checked my Pokegear I saw it was past two in the morning. Instead I walked stiffly and mindlessly to the town's Inn. I opened the door to find it open but empty. Without thinking, I entered a room and crawled into a bed. Then I remembered something faintly and sat back up.
I released Darkrai from its Pokeball.
"You killed my Pokemon," was all I could think to say. Luckily, or not so luckily, Darkrai was all too eager to respond.
"Pokemon are supposed to battle, and, and, the stronger Pokemon wins and the weaker Pokemon loses, sometimes forever." Darkrai still bantered in the voice of a six-year-old boy.
"But now its okay, because you caught me, just like I wanted you to. I wanted to be your Pokemon so I followed you. Then, I thought, that you might need some help catching me, because I always defeated other Pokemon forever before their trainers even thought to throw a Ball."
Darkrai grinned.
"It doesn't matter that you lost a Pokemon, now you have a new one to replace it. And I'll always be a good Pokemon. I'll do everything you say, and I'll be loyal no matter what happens. Because the reason that I know you're a good trainer, is because I'm here right now. You caught me. We battled, and you won. So I'm yours." Darkrai gave another almost expectant, endearing grin.
"I'm so happy I get to be your Pokemon!"
I was even more disturbed by this, the abomination truly had the mind of a child! I was at a loss for words, and as I let my eyes lock with Darkrai's, I met its eager smile. I could never go around training and battling with this thing! Without knowing it, the Pokemon could easily kill any other. I was terrified and awe-stricken.
"I watched you battle the other trainer, so I followed you in your shadow. You had to be strong enough to catch me. And you were. I'm so happy. So happy," Darkrai chattered with glee.
"…I'm going to sleep now, Darkrai. I'm going to recall you." My mind was utterly blank, and I was dumbstruck on what to do with this innocent-minded killer. I'd figure it out in the morning.
Before the talkative demon could say anymore, I recalled it and fell backwards into a soft pillow.
I thought I'd fall alseep quickly, but my brain was speeding with empty thoughts and scenarios. It must have been an hour before I conjured to the surface of my thinking that Darkrai was the Pokemon of sleep. Hoping I wouldn't regret it, I let out the mentally hyperactive Pokemon.
"Darkrai…you said you were my Pokemon, right?" Never. You'd never really be my Pokemon.
"Yes, oh yes, Jake Willow, I'll always be your Pokemon, I'll never abandon you. I'll do whatever you want."
"You made my Pokemon fall asleep, right?" I felt like some vital piece of information was missing.
After a few eager "yes's", I cut Darkrai off. "Does it work on humans?"
More excited yes's.
"Darkrai, I want you to put me to sleep. Since you can't recall yourself into your Ball, wait until I get up before you do anything else." I felt slightly bad, exploiting Darkrai's so called loyalty, but I only needed a few hours of sleep to recharge.
"Ok, ok, Jake Willow, just close your eyes. Let me take care of the rest." Again, something wasn't clicking.
"Dark….Void!" Darkrai shot a dark purple sphere at me. The color was all I saw, then nothing.
***
I was back in the forest, watching Gallade flail helplessly in the air, shooken around so violently that he hacked up blood that got on my face. I was completely immobile. There was no other thing around other than a mangled, spiky, shapeless horror, that tormented Gallade so. Its bellows of laughter were the screams of death.
Gallade's contorted face imprinted me deeply; bulging wide eyes, stretched out mouth that gurgled and foamed red. His screams were the worst, inhuman and deteriorating as Gallade's head wrenched sharply to a side, and a fountain of red drizzled forth.
I was suddenly watching Flygon charged down by a massive flaming horse, whose horn cleaved him straight through.
Manectric's flesh melted away as hot violet waves pummeled him to the ground.
The deaths of my Pokemon looped through, each time more gruesome and violent, bloody and brutal. They began to happen faster and fasted until all I could hear or see was the last expression my Pokemon made and their last shrieks to end their misery. I could do nothing but watch them die
over
and over
and over.
***
Darkrai, the Nightmare Pokemon.
Though this unique legendary usually means no harm due to its permanent child mentality, DARKRAI causes never-ending nightmares to every sleeping creature around it. This is made even more dangerous when coupled with the fact that since most Trainers who encounter DARKRAI are unaware of the side-effects of using DARKRAI to cure insomnia. It is sometimes thought that the POKEMON itself doesn't acknowlege how it puts other people and POKEMON in danger of never waking up.
***
I waited there, just like my Trainer had told me, cheery and undaunted by the task he had entrusted me with. I hovered, lost in thought blissfully, until I had realized it had been a few days. Jake Willow told me to wait until he decided to get up, and I couldn't get impatient. So I continued to wait there loyally, trusting that any moment Jake would feel he had rested enough and take me out to train.
But I had started paying attention to Jake as he slept, and saw that he tended to twitch and make a lot of sounds. They were bad sounds, the sounds Pokemon made when you defeated them. I couldn't tell what was the matter, so I thought it might be normal when people sleep to make those noises. I never watched people sleep anyway. It was probably normal, right?
So I didn't worry and continued to wait. My internal sense of time said Jake was asleep for a week. As I looked at him again, he had begun to sink into the bed. His face looked taut and constricted, his body weak from twitching. Something had to be wrong, no one slept this long. But I heard him breathing. I didn't know what to think. There were little white bubbles at the sides of his mouth.
Maybe I was imagining things. I was bored and imagining. My Trainer was fine. I chose him because he was a strong trainer, so he had to be fine. Had to be.
***
I had no idea what was going on anymore, no idea who I was, no idea why I was seeing the things I was seeing.
Now there were more Pokemon who I watched get brutally murdered, every one of my friends, every one of my memories, twisted evilly into this red-stained atrocity.
They played in perfect order every time, getting faster and faster and sometimes I'd watch them all die at once, but sometimes they grew slow and endured more horrible torment before they could take no more.
Then as who knows how long time progressed, they changed, bites and pieces of them had been torn off. In their place were crudely sewn on human limbs, my limbs. I felt nothing but excruciating pain as soon all their arms were mine, all their legs were mine, they had no tails or wings, and they had no heads but bloodied stumps.
***
Jake Willow had begun screaming and tossing around in his sleep, the white bubbles that formed turned pink and sometimes dark red leaked out. I had examined his body and found no injuries or signs of illness. He was quite small around, I observed. His ribs and pelvis were sticking out a lot, and as I discovered that my sense of time said it had been seventeen days.
People don't sleep for seventeen days, something was wrong but what could I do? If I went for help I'd be disobeying him. Besides, who would I go to? No one no one no one.
I stared endlessly at my trainer. I'd be here for him, be loyal forever no matter what.
***
I often lost myself and saw nothing but white or black for long periods of time, everything was slowing down, slowing. Maybe my friends would stop dying, maybe they could be alive again!
I screamed and argued with myself, that they were dead, that they were alive, but soon I had no will to. I was awfully tired. I needed to rest. I let go of my thoughts.
***
Jake Willow had stopped shaking and yelling so I thought for sure he was getting better, that we'd go and explore and battle together now. But no. No. Jake kept sleeping, and I was finally weary of being posted by his side; when my sense of time announced twenty-three days I leaned down and listened for his breath.
I heard nothing.
He was gone,
gone,
gone,
why? Why? I smashed the blue-and-yellow ball I was caught in. I vanished away, scared to find out he answer.
***
On February 25th, Andrew Robins won the title of Champion by default, his opposition nowhere to be found. Jake Willow was then decided missing and many fans of his began a search party. Robins aided vigorously; feeling he'd become Champion unfairly. After ten days of searching dilligently, the party was empty-handed. But yesterday morning, they discovered the body of a fifteen-year-old boy in a room at the Canalave Inn who was positively identified as Willow. His Pokemon have been sent to his parent's ranch in Johto.
Autopsies revealed that he died of malnutrition. There were also significant amounts of brain damage that likely resulted a in a violent coma. Cause of said sudden brain damage are unknown, though the disintegration of brain cells occured only in areas of voluntary control; possibly due to overexposure to an unknown wave, radiation, or force.
There is a strangely similar death that occured three years ago to another up-and-coming teenage battling sensation who was destined for greatness. Near the boy's death site an extremely rare Pokemon of childhood legends was seen fleetingly, and officials' drawings of eyewitness accounts, they determined the mystery Pokemon to be Darkrai.
The full extent and purpose of Darkrai's unique powers are unknown, due to it being so elusive, but the Pokemon is know to use sleep-inducing moves. According to the sparing Darkrai sightings, the Pokemon's mere prescence causes nightmares to those sleeping around it, and until Darkrai leaves the surrounding area, the bad dreams continue.
Detectives are now swiftly piecing together a likely scenario to explain what happened to young Jake Willow, as his many fans, friends, and family are holding a large funeral at […]
The Sinnoh Weekly, Third week of March
Still waiting desperately for the next chapter.
[02/26/2011 22:06:41]