Chapter 2: Darkrai Appears! The Dark Nightmare!

Monferno was having fun, watching the younger Pokémon slide. Luxio was giggling over the male Luxio's shyness and his blushing. Dratini was having a fun time on the slide. Leafeon was enjoying watching Happiny and the Woopers playing together with Quagsire at her side. The young Buizel was cheering for playing on the seesaw, too!

Smiling softly, the Twinleaf boy turned, only to see Piplup climbing up a small hill to where a Pecha Berry bush was! Hikaru frowned as he watched to see Pachirisu snatch the first Pecha Berry right from Piplup's nose! The second one was also snatched by Aipom, leaving the bush with only one Pecha Berry, which Piplup dove for this time.

However, the Shinx had caught sight of the Berry and dove for it, too! At the same time, the two fought over the Pecha Berry with their beak and mouth, before they rolled down on the hill and was sent flying up! "Uh oh..." Hikaru said to himself as he widened his eyes to see a conflict that's soon about to occur!

His thoughts and fear were correct, as the two tumbling Pokémon fell right where Pikachu, Chimchar, Buneary, and the young Buizel was sitting on one side of the seesaw! The sudden pressure from the fall sent both Marill and Azurill flying into the air, as they were falling to where Pachirisu was finishing up her berry!

Seeing the two little ones fall, Buizel and Azumarill quickly ran over to save the two, only for their rescue to be in naught as their arms also pressured Pachirisu's head, giving it enough pressure to shock a Discharge attack on everyone! Everyone screamed until Piplup and Shinx butted in, their tumbling bashing Pachirisu away!

The bashing knocked the Buizel brothers and Turtwig away with Piplup and the shy Luxio on one side! Buneary, Shinx, and Dratini were knocked on the other as the Rabbit Pokémon fell, using Ice Beam on both Shinx and Dratini! The two frozen Pokémon were soon freed by Azumarill, who started to get up from being attacked!

That broke the ice, while also dealing some damage to the three Pokémon. Hikaru paled as it gotten worse as he took notice to see that the wild Luxio shocked Piplup, Turtwig, and the Buizel brothers with a Shock Wave attack! "Hey! Cut it out! Stop it right now!" Hikaru cried as he tried to run down and stop the conflict from going on.

By that time, Ash, Dawn, and Brock noticed this and looked over to see a brawl that's about to start! Monferno, Pikachu, and Chimchar all tried to calm everyone down, only for their efforts to be futile as some of the Pokémon started to glare at each other!

The ones that weren't involved with the conflict could only watch in worry to see what would occur to their friends. The older Buizel, Buneary, and Piplup all began to butt heads with the wild Luxio, Azumarill, and Shinx as Hikaru tried to separate them. "I said, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hikaru snapped out loud as he tried to get in between the group.

However, he ended up making things worse as Azumarill shot a Water Gun at his face, splashing him with water! "What- Gah!" Hikaru sputtered as the wild Luxio took his turn by shocking the Twinleaf boy with Shock Wave, with the water making it more effective! "AAAAARRGHHH!" Hikaru screamed, shocking both Monferno and his Luxio.

Buizel, Piplup, and Buneary widened their eyes in shock, as they glared at the ones who attacked their human friend. Monferno and Luxio on the other hand, glared at both Azumarill and Luxio, as if they were ready to fight the ones that attacked their human brother. "Oh no! Hikaru!" Dawn gasped as she started to run down.

"Hey, knock it off! Stop fighting!" Ash called as he followed Dawn. But their calls didn't work as Dratini and the younger Buizel helped their injured human brother up, while Monferno, Buizel, Luxio, Buneary, and Piplup all got ready to fight the wild Luxio, Shinx, and Azumarill! Hikaru gritted his teeth as he tried to stop it again.

"I said... ENOU-" started Hikaru as he started to lose his temper. He didn't like to lash out at anyone, especially Pokémon for the mistakes they have done, but this was too much! He was splashed and shocked brutally, which was enough to possibly change his thoughts about Pokémon until a peaceful music flowed in the air.

It was a like flute noise as all the Pokémon stopped fighting! Hikaru also looked up, before he stood to see Alice using her leaf to make a music that sounded like a soothing tone. In fact, it was so peaceful... that everyone began to smile and relax at hearing the music! Even the Twinleaf boy started to smile softly, feeling relaxed at the same time.

"This... music... Where did I hear this before...?" Hikaru thought as he felt peaceful, not letting his small wounds bother him at all. Monferno rubbed his right leg, while Leafeon rubbed his left. The Twinleaf boy sat next to his two and rubbed their heads softly, making them both smile and growl in content as Luxio nuzzled and licked his cheek.

Ash and Dawn ran over, both surprised to see that the fighting has stopped as they turned to see Alice playing her music. Even the Pidgey that was flying by all flew down to listen as they followed the rhythm of the music. As the music went on, the friendship of all the wild Pokémon and Trainers' came back as they all relaxed together.

While Alice kept playing, Aipom came in between Piplup and Shinx, offering her Berry to the two, allowing the two to split it apart and eat their halves, causing Pikachu, Monferno, and Chimchar to smile as they witnessed the two reconciling with each other over the Berry issue as Dawn looked back at her childhood friend.

Seeing him relaxed with his Pokémon around, she smiled sweetly, both relieved and happy that he looked peaceful and happy at the same time. The Kanto trainer walked back up the stairs, with Dawn following, reuniting with Brock as the peaceful music had soon ended. As it ended, Hikaru slowly stood up, before he turned to Alice.

Ash, Dawn, and Brock walked over to her, as the Twinleaf girl smiled at the music their friend had played. "What a beautiful song!" commented Dawn as Alice smiled. "My grandmother taught it to me." Alice explained as the Kanto breeder clapped his hands together, feeling happy and proud for the young woman.

"It was just so moving...!" commented Brock, as the young woman smiled. "Thank you, Brock!" said Alice, before she smiled.

Hpwver, at that time, something jumped right in front of Alice, Ash, Dawn, and Brock, with Hikaru noticing from his Pokémon friends. It was a Gallade! And it seemed to have an urgent message for Alice as she walked up to him. "What, Gallade?" Alice asked as the Psychic-Fighting Type urged her to come quickly.

"Gallade! Gal! Gal!" Gallade said, as the young woman frowned. "What happened?" Alice asked as Gallade jumped over the stairs, before pointing ahead, earning another frown from Alice. "Something's very wrong... Chimchar!" Alice said as she called for her Fire Type, before she ran ahead, following after Gallade.

Seeing her run ahead, the four trainers all looked at each other, before they knew on what they needed to do. "Guys, let's go, too!" Ash said, causing Hikaru, Dawn, and Brock to nod together. They all took out their Pokéballs to return their Pokémon. "Return, now!" Brock called as he returned his three Pokémon back.

Ash and Dawn did the same, as Hikaru frowned at his six. "Sorry, you guys... But I'm afraid relaxation time is over now." Hikaru said as all his Pokémon nodded in understanding. With that said, the Twinleaf boy returned his five Pokémon, leaving Monferno to jump in his left shoulder as he followed the others to where Alice was running to.

Soon, everyone followed Gallade to see that something has happened to the pillars, as they were broken down. One had fallen, while one looked like as if it was about to fall soon. "This is terrible... Who could've done this?" Alice asked, as she approached the broken pillars. As she asked, a voice rose up, making an answer.

"It was Darkrai." A charming, but arrogant voice rose up as everyone turned to see someone come out from an opening. The man had pink hair, while having a royal formal suit. He seemed to be a man that Alice recognized as she called out his name in surprise. "Alberto...!?" Alice said as the man known as Alberto walked over to the broken pillars.

"It appears there have been some recent sightings in town." Alberto said as Ash raised a question to the man. "Uh... 'Scuse me? Who's Darkrai?" Ash asked, which Alberto responded to with an arrogant smirk on his face. "The Pokémon who wreaked this havoc!" Alberto said, before stomping on one of the broken pillars.

"Pokémon?" Dawn repeated in question as Alice made her guess about the Pokémon. "Darkrai must live here in this garden..." Alice said as the Kanto breeder frowned, "I've heard about Darkrai before. It's a Pokémon that makes you have nightmares." Brock said, causing Hikaru to frown as he looked back at the broken pillars.

"I suppose we could call it... the Pitch-Black Pokémon. A rare Pokémon, to be exact in Sinnoh..." Hikaru said as he narrowed his eyes. "Mon..." The Playful Pokémon frowned, as he didn't like the tone of his human brother. When Hikaru spoke that way, it means that there is something bothering him with the subject they're talking about.

"Is something wrong, Hikaru...?" Dawn asked, catching the Twinleaf boy's attention, as he weakly smiled. "N-No... It's just that hearing about that Pokémon kinda... bothers me a little for some reason..." Hikaru explained, as this caused Dawn to frown.

"There's something more to this, is there...?" Dawn asked in her thoughts as she watched as her childhood friend look at the broken pillars, then at the other areas of the garden as Alberto scoffed. He began kicking on one of the breaking pillars, making his arrogant accusation once again about Darkrai.

It was then everyone turned to see some bushes rustling, with Gallade seeing it first. "Hear that?" Alice asked, causing Alberto take out a Pokéball. "Darkrai..." he said as he threw his ball in the air! Out came a giant pink licking Pokémon that looked similar to a Lickitung! It was a Lickilicky and it was ready to help.

"Lickilicky! Hyper Beam!" Alberto cried out as the giant pink Pokémon obeyed by launching a powerful attack towards the bushes! As it made contact, a scream came out from the bushes, startling everyone as they saw a man with glasses and a computer weakly coming out of the bushes, looking burnt and beat up as he struggled to move.

"Grgh... Now, what did you... do that for... Ugh!" The man said as he fell face first on a tree, before slumping down on the ground! At the same time, a Drifblim with an antenna floated down with Alice running to the man. "Ah! Tonio!" Alice cried as she ran to her childhood friend, much to the four trainers' surprise.

As Tonio recovered, Alice helped him up, checking on him. "Are you okay?" Alice asked, which he nodded to as she introduced her childhood friend to the four trainers. "Everyone, this is my friend, Tonio. He's a scientist." Alice explained as the Alamos Town scientist took out his laptop to check on the broken pillars.

"I've been investigating the space-time abnormality that I have detected! Something has happened." Tonio explained. He gave his laptop to his childhood friend as he looked over the twisted and broken pillars to see if there was anything unusual with them. Hikaru frowned as he walked up, making a serious question.

"So, do you know anything about what occurred just now? Earlier, we felt some kind of current pushing at us while we were arriving in town in Alice's balloon." Hikaru asked as the scientist looked up at the Twinleaf boy. "Well... All I can say, is that- GAH!" Tonio started until a broken piece of the pillar fell on his head!

It stunned the man as he fell to his knees, much to Alice's worry and Hikaru's shock. "Ah! Tonio!" Alice cried as she knelt down to his level, which Tonio recovered by assuring to his childhood friend that he was okay. "No, no... I'm fine... I'm fine... Really..." Tonio said as Alberto scoffed, unimpressed with the scientist's impression.

"Alice, you don't have to be so nice to him." Alberto said, catching Alice by surprise. "Alberto...!?" said Alice as Hikaru glared at him. "And what do you mean by that?" Hikaru asked, as Monferno glared at the man on his human brother's shoulder. Alberto smirked, before making his answer as he pulled Alice close to him.

"What I mean is, Alice is to be my wife? Remember, my dear?" Alberto asked, startling Alice. "What!?" "Huh!?" "No way!" While Hikaru, Brock, and Dawn were shocked to hear this, Ash blinked, as he felt clueless about this subject. For Alice, she pushed the charming man away, before glaring at him.

"Excuse me... But I thought I told you 'no' already! Come on! I'm too young to be thinking about marriage!" Alice snapped, catching Tonio by surprise, before he sighed in relief. Brock sighed as well, which Hikaru noticed as he shot a small glare at him. "Don't even think about going there, Brock... I know who she likes..." Hikaru said silently.

The Kanto breeder tensed, before he asked back. "Who...?" Brock asked, causing the Twinleaf boy to narrow his eyes. "Tonio, who else?" Hikaru asked, shooting Brock's heart down as he paled in worry and fear. Hikaru shook his head in disbelief before he looked back at Alberto, who tried to win her heart once again.

"Please forgive me... This isn't the time or place for that kind of talk." Alberto said as he made another offer to her. "Now that that's done, why don't you come over to my place, for a little dinner?" Alberto asked, until Dawn pushed him away, with Hikaru supporting her. "Cool it! Alice is so not interested!" Dawn snapped.

"You should know by now on who she really likes, Mister!" Hikaru snapped along, as Chimchar and Monferno screeched at Alberto in agreement, much to his annoyance as he smirked, before he glared at the Twinleaf duo. "Excuse me, young children... BUTT OUT!" Alberto snapped, earning a fierce glare from the Twinleaf boy.

"Why don't you make us!?" Hikaru challenged, only to be held back by Dawn, who shook her head. "Don't bother... he's not worth the time, Hikaru." Dawn said dryly, calming her childhood friend down as Ash turned to Tonio with a frown on his face.

"Tonio, who is that guy?" Ash asked, which Tonio sighed at. "Baron Alberto." Tonio said as the charming, but arrogant man tried again with his attempt to bring Alice with him. "So, Alice... Lets get going!" Alberto said as he tried to take Alice's arm with a bow, only for Alice to run off and hold onto Tonio's arm.

"You see, it's just what Hikaru said! There is someone that I already like, and it's Tonio!" Alice said, shocking both Brock and Tonio, as the scientist blinked several times in disbelief. "I am?" was all Tonio could ask, while Brock felt his heart shattering into a million pieces as Alberto just laughed at her words.

"Ha ha ha! You've got quite a sense of humor, my dear!" Alberto laughed, as Tonio followed along. "So... This was all just a little joke... Heh heh heh..." Tonio said nervously, which Alice didn't take lightly as she scoffed, before turning away from her childhood friend. "Joke?" Alice snapped as she let out a huff.

Seeing her like that caused Hikaru to twitch his eyes as he knew what Tonio did wrong. "Wrong move, sir..." Hikaru thought bitterly, as Monferno thought the same thing. Tonio on the other hand, looked back at his childhood friend as he recalled the time when Alice liked her when they were both young.

He sighed, before glancing at Alice. "Oh, Alice..." Tonio said softly. Dawn walked up besides her childhood friend and sighed. "He said the wrong thing, did he?" Dawn asked, which Hikaru nodded to. Just as he agreed, the Twinleaf boy blinked, as he felt something creeping into his body as he looked around with a frown.

Dawn noticed this and turned to her childhood friend in confusion. "Hikaru? Is something wrong?" Dawn asked, until Monferno and Pikachu felt the same thing, too! As the two starters reacted, some sort of energy waves began to flow, startling everyone as they looked around, with the laptop making strange noises in Alice's hands.

Seeing this, Tonio took it from her arms and frowned. "Not again... What is this? Such strange phenomenon..." Tonio said as his laptop picked up strong energy waves from before. "It's those same feelings from when we arrived in town..." Hikaru said as he narrowed his eyes. "Mon... Monferno..." Monferno agreed.

Just then, as if he was sensing something, Gallade glared to where the woods were and made a battle stance, preparing to face an upcoming enemy, catching everyone's attention as they turned to see who Gallade was glaring at. By that time, the Twinleaf boy's heart began to ache as he held onto his chest a little.

"What... is this... pain? It's like... something's about to come out, preparing to do something to us..." Hikaru thought as sweat began to form around his forehead. As he thought, a small flower pillar started to break off as it fell onto the ground, caused by some sort of force that ate the pillar off.

And then... a shadow moved around the broken pillars, keeping itself under the shade of the trees! Ash and Pikachu frowned at this as Brock and Dawn turned to see the shadow moving. "Something's there!" Ash said as Hikaru narrowed his eyes, his pupils turning yellow and green as he tried to figure who was hiding.

"Could it be...? No way..." Hikaru said as Dawn turned to him. "What? Who is it, Hikaru?" Dawn asked as Monferno glared at the moving shadow. Then, the sun was hid by the clouds, causing the Cherrim on the trees to turn from their full bloomed form to their non-bloomed form. As the shadow stopped moving, a figure started to come out.

"Do not... come here..." The Pokémon said darkly as everyone soon realized who this Pokémon was. "It's Darkrai..." Tonio said in disbelief, while Alberto smiled. "I'd say so." Alberto said confidently as Dawn stayed close to her childhood friend's left, whose pupils started to glow a bit brighter as he narrowed his eyes.

Ash and Brock stood together as well as everyone turned to see the Pitch-Black Pokémon appearing right in front of them! "Darkrai?" Dawn said in a little fright as the Kanto trainer confirmed it with his prepared tone. "Afraid so..." Ash said as Alberto walked up, with Lickilicky getting ready to fight.

"So, it was you after all... Go, Lickilicky!" Alberto called as his ace began to battle! It prepared a Hyper Beam, and launched it right at the Dark Type Pokémon! However, right before the attack could hit, the Pitch-Black Pokémon went inside the ground, becoming a shadow, startling everyone as it started to close in on them!

"What!?" "It's gone!" While Alberto was shocked, Ash was surprised to see it gone as Hikaru's pupils glowed even more. Somehow, the way he looked at it, everything was going slow as he was able to keep up with Darkrai's speed and movements as he turned to the spot where the Pitch-Black Pokémon was going to be.

Everyone else on the other hand struggled to keep up with its movements as it appeared out of the shadows, preparing an attack! It formed a dark ball and threw it towards Lickilicky, who dodged, causing it to head towards Ash! Widening his eyes, the Twinleaf boy moved to save his friend as he tried to push the Kanto trainer out of the way.

"Damnit! Move, Ash!" Hikaru yelled as he placed his hands on the Kanto trainer's shoulders, much to his surprise only for the attack to trap both boys in a dark sphere! "Ash!?" "Hikaru!?" Brock and Dawn yelled in shock as Pikachu and Monferno called for their best friends. "Pika Pi!" "Mon! Monferno!" The two starters cried in despair.

For an unknown reason, as Darkrai caught his opponents, even he looked a bit shocked to see that he had caught two humans, but his main concern and eyes turned to Hikaru, who was also swallowed up by his Dark Void attack.

"AAHHHHH!" Both Ash and Hikaru screamed as they were sent falling down, both succumbed to the nightmare.

Nightmare

The two fell to the ground, tumbling as they groaned while trying to recover from the fall. They stood up before they looked around. "Ugh... Hey, guys! Pikachu!? Where are you!?" Ash gasped as he searched for his friends. "Tonio!? Alice! Monferno!?" Even Hikaru looked around, calling for their friends as the two walked across the area they were in.

"Hey! Dawn! Brock!" Ash called as they walked around. "Where are we...?" Ash asked as the Twinleaf boy frowned. "We must be in some sort of nightmare... Remember? Darkrai suddenly attacked us with Dark Void... A move that puts the opponents to sleep, while his ability called Bad Dreams inflicting damage to them." Hikaru said as he kept walking.

The Kanto trainer frowned at his Sinnoh friend, before he raised a question to him. "Hey, Hikaru... How come you know so much about Darkrai, anyway?" Ash asked as Hikaru stopped, before he showed his glowing pupils to Ash, who blinked in surprise, before he realized on what eyes he was looking at.

"Those eyes... It's just like the time when Hikaru got angry or something... Only this time, he doesn't seem so angry..." Ash thought as the Twinleaf boy explained. "I learned about Sinnoh's legends and rare Pokémon before I started my journey... One of the subjects I learned about, was Darkrai." Hikaru explained.

"You see, I... was never a fan of Pokémon that represented the darkness, because I thought that meant that they represented evil. I guess this nightmare we're in is where I'm going to see whether if my thoughts are true or not." Hikaru explained as he looked around, looking to see if anyone was around.

"I get it..." Ash said, as he understood of what his Sinnoh friend meant. The two walked around to see if they could find any way out of the nightmare, until something caught Hikaru's attention as he slightly turned to see the shadow of Ash suddenly growing! "What the!? Behind you, Ash!" Hikaru yelled, startling Ash.

The Kanto trainer turned to see the shadow growing around him, soon taking a shape as Darkrai! The two boys braced themselves as the shadow rose up, confronting them as it showed a silhouette of a giant Pokémon coming straight at them! It let out a roar, surprising the two as they took a step back in surprise.

"Oh man! What's going on!?" Ash yelled as the Twinleaf boy was about to say something, until he heard a familiar voice speaking to him alone. "Young... Prince... You must stop them from coming... Do not... let them... come..." Darkrai's voice called out, catching Hikaru by surprise. Suddenly, the pain in his heart grew as he began to sweat even more.

"Not... again..." Hikaru grunted to himself, catching the Kanto trainer's attention. "Hikaru!? What's wrong..." Ash started, until the silhouette zipped past both him and Hikaru, causing the two to yell in surprise before they opened their eyes again to see Darkrai floating right in front of them! Gritting his teeth, Ash took out a Pokéball.

"Darkrai... Darkrai's doing this!" Ash snapped as he prepared to battle. "Ash, wait! We're in a-" Hikaru started, until it was too late. "Alright, Turtwig! I choose you!" Ash cried as he tried to summon his Tiny Leaf Pokémon, only for the Pokéball to disappear right when it was thrown in the air!

"What!?" "This is a nightmare! We can't use our Pokémon to battle!" Hikaru explained to the shocked Ash for the disappearance as the Twinleaf boy turned to Darkrai. He walked over to the Pitch-Black Pokémon, confronting it as he glared at it. "Alright, answer me! Who were you talking about just now!?" Hikaru demanded as Darkrai made no response.

Instead, it sunk on the ground, making the same dark request as before. "You must... stop them... Young Prince..." Darkrai croaked out as this time, Ash heard it too, which he widened his eyes at. By the time the Kanto trainer could process of what he heard just now, Darkrai was already turning back into the shadow.

This annoyed the Twinleaf boy's annoyance as he tried to run and stop the Pitch-Black Pokémon from escaping. "Wait! Darkrai! Stop!" Hikaru yelled as he tried to run after the Pitch-Black Pokémon until he caught two more Pokémon in front of both himself and Ash! It was Pikachu and Monferno, and they didn't look very well.

But not noticing this, Ash smiled in relief, happy to see his Electric Type partner. Hikaru blinked for a moment until he noticed something was wrong as his guess was right. Before their starters could even react to seeing their human friends, the ground start to swallow them up, shocking the two and the boys.

At seeing this, both Hikaru and Ash tried to run and save their starters from their incoming doom. "Ah! Pikachu! Pikachu!" Ash cried as he jumped into the swallowing vortex, and grabbing his partner. Both him and Pikachu screamed as they were sent falling down into the dark endless pit, much to Hikaru's shock as he managed to grab Monferno before the ground could swallow him up!

"NO! Ash! Pikachu!?" "Mon! Monferno!?" Both Hikaru and Monferno shrieked in shock until something started to pull them both down! To their despair, several dark hands started to grab onto them, pulling them away from each other as Hikaru tried to fight off the arms and reach for his Fire Type partner.

"Argh! Get off of me! No! Monferno! MONFERNO!?" Hikaru yelled as he desperately tried to reach for his starter. "MON-" Monferno shrieked back as he also tried to reach for his human brother, only for the arms to pull him down completely, making him completely swallowed by the dark vortex.

At seeing this happen right in his own eyes, tears welled in the Twinleaf boy's eyes as he let out a loud scream in despair. "NOOOOOOOO!" Hikaru screamed as he was pulled down to the dark vortex as well, being sent falling down to an endless dark pit.

Reality

"Pika... CHHUUUU!"

"Mon... FERNOOO!"

Flame Wheel burned Hikaru while Thunderbolt zapped Ash as the boys screamed in pain from the attacks of their starters. But due to this, it allowed both of them to wake up and notice their partners held in their arms. "Pikachu...?" "What... Monferno?" Both Ash and Hikaru said together, much to the joy of their starters.

"Pika Pi!" "Mon! Monferno!" The two cried out as they hugged their human friends, much to Ash's joy and Hikaru's relief as the Kanto trainer squeezed Pikachu in a tight embrace. "You're okay!" Ash exclaimed, much to Pikachu's displeasure as he struggled to breath, which Dawn saved him from. "Ash, stop! Pikachu's suffocating!" Dawn called in warning.

This stopped Ash from embracing his Electric Type partner as Hikaru weakly smiled to see his Fire Type starter being held in his arms right now. "Monferno... You're right here... You're okay..." Hikaru said as he hugged his Fire Type back, causing the Playful Pokémon to grin in content before he nodded to his human brother.

With the hugging done, Monferno helped his human brother up on the bed as Hikaru looked around, while holding his head. "Where are we...? Is this...?" Hikaru started as Dawn nodded with a small relieved smile on her face. "Yeah... This is the Pokémon Center." Dawn said before she held Hikaru's hand carefully, surprising him as he flushed a little.

Nurse Joy walked up, giving a small concerned expression on her face. "You two were having terrible nightmares after Darkrai put you both to sleep." Nurse Joy explained, causing Ash to remember as he blinked. "Nightmares... Then, what you said before, Hikaru... You were right! We were both having the same dream together!" Ash said in surprise.

The Twinleaf boy nodded with a small frown on his face. "You don't need to tell me twice..." Hikaru said as he looked at his left hand. Remembering what Darkrai said before left the Twinleaf boy shaking his head. "I still don't know what that was all about... That nightmare..." Hikaru said as he clenched his left fist.

"What do you mean... What did you see in that nightmare?" Alice asked with a frown as Hikaru glanced at her. Biting his lips, the Twinleaf boy shook his head, ignoring the subject. "I just... want to drop it for now... I'll explain later." Hikaru explained as Tonio frowned. Brock let out a small chuckle, reminding the two on how they moved in their nightmares.

"You two were really in a bad way!" Brock explained as Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder, while Monferno nuzzled Hikaru's cheek with his, as the boys smiled at their partners. "Ha ha... You woke us up, did you, you guys?" Ash asked, which Pikachu and Monferno confirmed by nodding with smiles on their faces.

Nurse Joy frowned, giving a reminder of the time when Darkrai appears. "Darkrai normally doesn't come out when people come around..." Nurse Joy explained as Hikaru narrowed his eyes. "So, I guess this means the townspeople are not liking this one bit." Brock said as the nurse added one more fact about the ones fearing Darkrai.

"Because of all those nightmares, even the other Pokémon stays away from Darkrai." Nurse Joy explained as the Twinleaf boy made his guess for Darkrai's appearance. "I guess it must've been those strange currents that caused him to come out..." Hikaru said as he folded his arms.

"That could make sense... I think..." Alice said, as she wasn't sure on what to believe. Dawn nervously smiled, before shaking her heads with a reminder. "Well, no one wants to have nightmares, right?" Dawn asked, which Brock nodded at. Ash on the other hand, was annoyed for succumbing into Darkrai's powers as he gritted his teeth.

"If I ever come across that Darkrai again, I'll give him a battle for good!" Ash snapped, which Pikachu agreed on as he was still angry for what the Pitch-Black Pokemon had done for putting his human friend in a nightmare. That was when Alice spoke up, calming the Kanto trainer down.

"Wait. Remember that it was Baron Alberto who attacked Darkrai first." Alice said as the Twinleaf boy spoke up. "Then, all Darkrai was doing was defending himself...?" Hikaru asked as the young woman nodded in confirmation.

Bending down to the floor, Tonio looked at the design of the floor boards as he remembered what his laptop had showed when the currents came by around the town. "This is an incredible force... Enough to actually warp space..." Tonio said as his words caught the Twinleaf boy's attention as he frowned of what the Alamos scientist was saying.

Before he could think of what he had said, Tonio stood up, making his call to keep on researching. "I have to look at more data!" Tonio cried, catching Alice and everyone else by surprise. "Tonio...?" Alice called as her childhood friend walked out of the room to head back to his research room as everyone watched him leave.

"There's a strong possibility that the same thing has happened before... It must be... Maybe there's something in Godey's diary- Ngh!" Tonio started to himself before he bumped his face into a wall, startling a Chansey walking by as the Alamos scientist took his leave, as Alice smiled sheepishly at her childhood friend's way of making his words and intentions.

"That is so him... Once he starts thinking about something, that's that..." Alice said as the others walked over to hear Alice talk about her childhood friend as Dawn frowned, before she turned to her childhood friend. Noticing the bitter look on his face, the Twinleaf girl frowned, feeling worried about Hikaru.

"You're not telling us something, Hikaru... What is it that you're hiding from us?" Dawn thought to herself as she watched Hikaru shake his head before he sat back down on his bed, rubbing Monferno's head with care and love, much to the Playful Pokémon's content.

To be continued...

Next chapters:

Chapter 3: The Space-Time Tower Legend

Chapter 4: The Confusion of the Fog

Chapter 5: Palkia VS Dialga! Another Dimension!

Chapter 6: Play the Oración! Battle for Hope!

Chapter 7: Reach the Top! Fight, Darkrai!

Next chapter preview:

Hikaru: He called me... a young Prince... But why would Darkrai call me that all of a sudden?

Tonio: I have to research on this now! Now that I've seen Darkrai in real life... there has to be a pattern somewhere...

Hikaru: Oración... I felt like I heard about that name before... But I don't remember where.

Ash: Mm... I just wish that nightmare would just go away soon... and forever.

Dawn: Would it be alright if I placed the disk on the tower?

Alice: If you're willing to try and climb all the way to the top, then we'll all go!