The Curse Of The Moon.

DISCLAIMER: I say this once and only once. (I see no point at repeating myself over EVERY chapter! :) ) I don't own Pokemon.

I do own my OC; Shade. Any likeness to other characters or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Deep into that darkness peering
long I stood there
wondering, fearing, doubting,
dreaming dreams
no mortals ever dared
to dream before.

- Edgar Allen Poe

….

The Festival.

"Alamos Town!" I exclaimed to myself. "…Finally."

I looked out from the dirt path I had been following through the woods at the jetty of rock jutting out from the impressive mountainside into the bay. The yellow and white sails of yachts bobbed and dotted the glittering water of the immense lake. The town itself sat there on an impressive mesa standing like an island in the middle of the lake and linked to the mainland by an impressive white marble arch bridge, beckoning me forth.
I pleasant sigh escaped my lips as the mountain breeze tousled my long black hair around my shoulders. My one defining silvery white bang of hair wavered across my cerulean eyes from my side parting.

Taking one look at my full black attire, boots, leggings and short dress like top tailored with red across the collar and down my sides finished off with a black jacket to keep the cool breeze off me. Satchel in check over my shoulders, I made sure no forest material got stuck in weird places. I didn't want to walk around the town looking like I crawled out of a haystack. Besides… there was so much to see and it was only ten in the morning!

It was not long before I made it across the bridge. People haggled for prices in the markets, their pokemon also pitching in to try and attract customers to the stalls of their masters. Murkrow spiralled and hopped across the eaves of buildings as I walked. I was thirsty and feeling hungry from the long trek here so I located a café outside the market and was promptly greeted by the head manager of the establishment.

"And a very good morning to you young lady! What will be your order?" He said cheerily in a familiar Spanish accent as he offered me a simple menu and guided me to a prepared table. I assumed he hadn't been open for very long or business had not yet picked up as only two other tables were occupied. Otherwise it was fairly quiet. I peeked in my small satchel as I sat down. Rifling through my sketchpad, I located the few dollars hiding between my pencils. I knew I wouldn't have enough for a big order so something small would have to suffice until I could get some more dollars in for my sketches on the go.

I looked up at him from my menu and smiled, "A Summer Swirl Smoothie, please."
He chortled. "Excellent, my selection of Pecha Berries are at their sweetest this time of year!" he announced and with a turn on his heel, he disappeared behind the counter, whipping up a masterpiece.

He must have been so eager to please another customer for business' sake for he was back with my order before I knew it. The combination of Miltank ice cream and berries was to die for and the straw soon gurgled at the base of the empty glass. Well it was tasty while it lasted.

I had been watching the hustle and bustle of everyone running around. Strings of lanterns were being negotiated and hung up over the streets. Stalls became fuller or more stocked with merchandise or food. It didn't take long again for the manager to appear beside me.
"Where you satisfied?" he asked.

I snapped my gaze at him and my smile broadened, "Oh… Yes! Thank you very much!" I exclaimed and paid my bill accordingly. Before he left with the tab I just had to ask him what was on my mind.
"Say mister… I'm curious, what's going on in Town today?" I asked gesturing to the streets beyond the tables.

He looked up and smiled knowingly, "Ah… you must've just walked into town earlier and not heard. There is a huge festival today."

I blinked, "Festival…?"

"Yes," He confirmed, "On this day, every year, we hold a festival to honour the great deity pokemon, Palkia, whom controls space and Dialga whom controls time. See those two towers up ahead?" I followed his pointing hand and nodded for him to continue. "We also commemorate the great architect Godi for designing those towers of Space and Time. He claimed he had a vision and left that to appease these deities who would have brought our world to an end. The song the towers played brought peace to their war and they decided to spare us and restore what had been lost."

That's when I worked out that that must be where the music was coming from every hour. "I see…wow… some story. It must have been scary back then." I admitted.

"Mhm." He nodded and the café's phone rang. He turned to answer. A moment passed before he turned stone faced and returned the receiver to its rightful place. That was when he looked up as people started crowding the café. He sweat-dropped.

"Something wrong?" I started.

"Eheh… seems I'll have a problem." He choked out dejectedly. "That was my assisting waitress. She was to return from a short trip today but the ferry she needs to take is experiencing delays some miles from here."

I felt my eyes widen as realization dawned. No ways he'll keep up with the demand here.
Suddenly, I had an idea.
"I'll help you!" I exclaimed.

"You will! You don't mind at all?"

"Nope." I said smiling as I approached.

"That's great!" He exclaimed and clapped his hands together, "Oh here! Put this apron on quick then! You can hang your jacket and bag in the staff cabinet over there. By the way, my name is Anton. Thanks a lot!"

"My name is Shade. Really, I don't mind helping out!" I piped up and got to it. Good thing I was around to rescue the poor man in time! Honestly, it felt good to experience my daylight hours with my own decisions. I felt so free to do what I wanted to do among other people.

It sure was busy though as customers came and went after their lunch and got back to finishing up the final touches of the awaiting festival. Giving the last table a quick clean up and it was over. Heh, that sure went fast and soon enough, a woman approached and entered the Café
"Anton, I've made it! I can't say enough how sorry I am for the inconvenience I've caused you."
'This must be the woman that had travel problems earlier.' I realized, as she looked over at me a bit confused.

Anton walked up to us. "That's a relief then." He said smiling and turned to me. "This young lady was nice enough to lend me a helping hand after you called me. Good thing she was around too!" he told the woman.

The woman sighed as she realized she wasn't replaced completely, "That's a relief, Anton."

I smiled as Anton did and he acknowledged me completely, "You've been a great help, Shade. Thanks again."

"You're welcome." I said cheerily as I removed the apron and handed it over to the woman when she offered her hand for it. "Guess I should get going. Looks like the festival is going to be in full swing soon."
"Of course." the woman said, "You don't want to miss that!" she finished, smiling and I retrieved my jacket and satchel from the staff cabinet.
"Well…it was nice knowing you!" I waved and turned to continue on my journey.

"Wait! Hold up a second!"

"Huh." I turned to the familiar voice of Anton as he caught up to me.
"I have something for you. To show my gratitude for all your help, Shade."
I looked down as he retrieved my left hand and placed something light into it. When his hand fell away, I realized that he placed some amount of dollar notes into my hand. I gasped, "Anton, I can't accept this!" I just about whined.

He put his arm behind his head and laughed, "Please, it's the least I can do for you. Besides, I did notice you were a bit down on the green earlier." He teased as he nudged my arm with his elbow. I gasped again, nearly embarrassed at being caught out like that.
The woman giggled at my reaction.

I sighed and looked up at them both, "Thank you very much." I admitted and held onto the notes tightly before turning to walk away. "Goodbye!" I waved at them.

"Bye… and thanks again!" Anton hollered before they both turned back to continue their services.

I smiled and stuffed the notes into my satchel as I walked. Flags sailed over the lanterns overhead. The streets started to get more and more congested with people and their pokemon. Stopping at a cross in the road under some trees to gain my bearings, I noticed an old wooden signpost beside the tree's trunk. Walking over to it, a Pidgey perched on top of the wooden post looked down at me and cooed before returning to the task of preening its feathers. Looking up at the sign confirmed three wooden arrows were secured to the post. Worn down words were still readable thou. Two that pointed in the direction that I had just come from read 'Alamos Marina' and 'Alamos Central'. The third one caught my interest and pointed in the opposite direction. It read 'Alamos Gardens'.

A/N: Wow…after two years and five months, I've finally finished this little project I had been working on! I can't tell you how much backround research I had to do to make this work. (I was a fan of pokemon and lost the thread a long time ago so I had loads of catching up to do) Anyway! There is a reason why I planned to post this fic up today. Today is the Black Moon! The second occurring new moon of the month, and I thought that as such an event plays a huge role in this story…what better time to post it now huh! XD

So…for now…I give you the first three chapters to get you into this. The movies: The Rise Of Darkrai and Arceus And The Jewel Of Life also play a huge backstory role in this fic too. So I hope and pray you guys love it as much as I had fun writing it!