Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon, or any of their characters. Wish I did.

The slightly secondary disclaimer: I got the idea for this story from, of all things, a forum game. In it, posters would play as 'gijinka pokemon'. The basic idea was sound, but it was lacking in many things- most prominently, plot. The game jumped all over the place. When I decided to write a fanfiction about it (sort of), I changed several major ideas, plugged some practical holes, created a much more (I think) believable plot, created some backstory and slightly altered the meaning of the word 'gijinka'. By now, I think I can reasonably call it my work. Anyway, I have decided to keep at least two of the characters from the original that I liked.


For once, Darkrai was not anywhere near his domain. He surveyed his surroundings with mild distaste and deep rooted suspicion. This would be the first time Cressalia had fled to any region other than Sinnoh, which was as much his as hers, if not more so. She surprised him, doing this, and forced him to consider the harsh possibility that she knew other places, places he had no control over.

It was dark here, very dark, which suited Darkrai just fine. No lights poured forth from people's dwellings; this was a place left to the rule of nature, an isolated piece of the Johto region. Cressalia had better know to where she fled, for her own sake. For her to venture out, in an unknown, mostly uninhabited place with no moonlight falling from the sky to guide her, the time she was at her weakest and himself at his greatest strength, was bound to be suicide. One other thing Darkrai knew from multiple skirmishes with his enemy and prey: Cressalia was not stupid. She knew he was hunting her, knew it and went on anyway, even in these conditions. Therefore, there was something she knew that he did not, a dangerous possibility. Twice before, there had been similar conditions, and both times she had surprised him, to her benefit and his immense discomfort.

Nevertheless, the conditions were still too good to pass up. There was always the possibil-

Darkrai's thoughts were abruptly interrupted. An immense city, a huge light, had appeared on the horizon. And, Darkrai noticed with a devilish smirk, a pinkish ball of light, not too far ahead, was making a beeline for that exact spot.

Aaahh. So that's your surprise, Cressalia? Playing so helpless, and then calling for help.

Humans always came to her, when she asked them in dreams.

Two can play at that game, you know.

Oh yes, he thought to himself. Cressalia's surprise was this bright city. His surprise would be… darker. More clever. A cunning trap. But for once, it would seem to start out bright.

As Cressalia sped towards the city, Darkrai took a more leisurely pace, soaking up the untainted darkness, the pure night with no moon in the sky. Even the stars were covered by a dark cloud. This was his night.

She had reached the city. Let her dreams run loose; this time, he would bend them to his advantage!

A while later, Darkrai strode into the bright light. He explored a little bit, trying to find a dark alley where he would not be found.

Such a nuisance! In Sinnoh, I know every little alley… and Cressalia has hidden herself well. No matter. She'll be mine soon.

Finding an appropriate place, Darkrai settled down and bent the resting minds for many miles around to his will. He filled his self with a sharp image, a specific nightmare that all would be forced to endure. It started out somewhat bright.

A pinkish ball of light sprinted past.

It came to rest in an alley, and resolved itself into a likeness of Cressalia. Blood was pouring from a wound on her back.

Help me! It screamed, as the image grew steadily darker. Find me! I need help-

Whatever Darkrai was going to have it say next was interrupted. A whitish purple spark had seemingly "jumped" into the vision.

That's odd. Thought Darkrai. The troubled minds of my viewers often add to the darkness of my creations, but never before has something bright appeared that I did not summon.

Turning his attention to the spot, he watched with mild amusement as the whitish purple sparks flared up again. This time, they looked like miniature bolts of lightning. They fell again.

A few seconds later, they sprang up again, but no longer miniature. Now they were ropes of lightning- ropes that rose up and wrapped around Darkrai before he could react. At this point, the usually calm Darkrai started to panic as they dragged him down, down, into the point where he fell unconscious….

For many miles around, all who were asleep (and a few who weren't) shuddered in the grip of the horrible nightmare.

Among those thousands, about a hundred also felt the whitish-purple sparks.

Not much later, Darkrai awoke, feeling mildly unpleasant.

What… was that?

He lifted himself up, and found himself facing a reflective surface.

WHAT? … what has happened?

For in the mirror-like gleam, he found a body utterly changed. It was in the general shape of a human, but the pitch-black robes that it wore fanned out, as if they were simply growing out of the shadows. They carried a certain darkness with them, a darkness that had nothing to do with visibility, Darkrai noticed with cunning delight. The hands of the figure were a dark black, and ended in pointed talons. They were a smooth cold, and razor sharp. Darkrai soon found them to hold a great strength.

Around the neck of the new body, a blood red jaw-like ornamentation hung in place. It consisted of one solid, jagged piece, which grew larger towards the front of the figure, making for a very intimidating look.

The skin on his face was not pure black, but very close. His hair was white, but not long. His ears were somewhat pointed, but seemed to catch every least sound. That will be useful for my night excursions, he thought.

His eyes were a deceptively bright blue, of the color one would see in a young child. But his pupils were a darker black than that of anything else on his body. Staring into them, one would feel as if cruelly drawn to a black hole, a hole that pulled all of your fear to the surface of your mind. Darkrai looked into his own eyes and shuddered. First with fear, and then with tremendous anticipation. These were the eyes of a powerful creature.

Wishing to know the strengths of his new body, Darkrai lashed out with his claws. His target, a large crate, groaned and split in two. Darkrai grinned with fiendish delight.

He seized a passing rattata and sunk his talons into it. It shuddered and grew limp in his hands. Darkrai hurled it at a nearby wall. When it fell, the wall had a large dent in it.

The best was yet to come, Darkrai knew. He had not yet exercised any of his special abilities. If they had grown as much in strength as his physical abilities had…

He fired off several dark voids, more or less at random. Most simply diffused into darkness upon colliding with walls. A couple hit living things- another rattatata and several pidgey. They immediately collapsed in heaps, asleep. They shook for a moment with nightmares; and then went limp, unconscious.

How delightful. Thought Darkrai, thinking of the power he had just displayed. Why, even his ability had been enhanced!

At long last getting to his damaging attacks, Darkrai softly pulled from the nearby shadows, and released an experimental dark pulse. It struck a nearby building with a snarling ferocity, and, within minutes, ripped it to shreds. The same dark pulse continued on, to rip through one more large building, before it ended. He unleashed a couple more, utterly destroying the alley around him, before deciding to explore his full strength somewhere less conspicuous.

Oh, dear Cressalia, what a lovely gift you have given me tonight. You will feel my wrath soon, you and all your human friends. These humans… no longer are they your saviors! I can walk right in to your traps, and out, unharmed. My rage shall be all-consuming!

One thing is obvious… I am no longer pokemon. I have human intellect… and possess, still, my powers. There must be a name for this state of being. Hmm…? There's not? Then I will give this state a name. I am… and anyone else, who reaches this state… shall be known as gijinka.


Author's notes: Regarding the story so far: I know that not much is revealed in the first chapter.

For those of you who haven't figured it out by now: Darkrai is the main antagonist in this story. I will be introducing the main protagonist next chapter. Please review- I'd very much like to know what others think of my writing.