A/N: Sorry for taking so long, I've had a lot of stuff to do with college.
Chapter 3 – Return to Treasure Town
"All right, another exploration successful!" Typhoon cheered as he and Lyceus departed from the dungeon, Darkrai following closely behind.
"Hold on, Typhoon!" Lyceus interrupted. "Aren't you forgetting something? Someone who's with us?"
Typhoon did a double-take as he realized Lyceus was right. They couldn't just bring Darkrai right into Treasure Town, at least not right away. That really would be a recipe for disaster. "What do we do?" the Empoleon asked worried. "Treasure Town certainly trusts us…but everyone would probably start attacking Darkrai if they even get a glimpse of him."
"I have an idea," Lyceus decided. "We keep Darkrai hidden for now and bring Cresselia over to decide for herself. She's the one who's Darkrai's opposite, as well as the one who's been hunting the…evil Darkrai…and trying to stop his plans all this time. She'll know what to do."
Typhoon grinned. "That sounds like a plan to me! Listen, Lyceus, unlike you, I'm not the kind of Pokémon who can develop the ability to resist sleep naturally. I'll go to Treasure Town, call up Cresselia, and fill her in on the situation. You go and keep watch over Darkrai. Considering your sleep immunity and your type advantage, you'll have a much easier time stopping Darkrai if he tries anything funny."
"All right, Typhoon, but hurry! We don't want someone to find Darkrai before Cresselia does!"
/Present Day/
"I see…" Giratina mused. "So Cresselia was part of Team Basilikos, was she?" he suddenly burst out laughing. "So was I, as a matter of fact. Ah….those were some fun times. If I recall correctly, I think all of the Legendaries joined up at some point or another for a brief while."
"Wait, really?" Darkrai asked surprised. "That's news to me. I only saw a few of the legendaries, including Cresselia."
The Renegade dragon chuckled. "Yes, well, back then I was under the impression that you still had amnesia. I think Lyceus and Typhoon's plan was a great one, actually. It kept you safe from a hostile world…and if you were still evil, that Lucario's Aura Sphere would have kept the world safe from you. So, uh…what happened when Cresselia showed up?"
/The Past/
"Hey, I can see Typhoon and Cresselia over there!" Lyceus pointed towards the road leading down to Treasure Town. Darkrai directed his gaze in that direction and saw, to his dismay, that Cresselia was indeed coming towards them with Typhoon at her side.
Cresselia's eyes narrowed once she saw Darkrai. "So, it's true. You've indeed found Darkrai after all, Lyceus and Typhoon," was the first thing she said. "You were wise to bring him here where we could keep an eye on him."
"So, uhm…" the Lucario ventured, "what do we do now?"
"Using my psychic powers, I can peer into Darkrai's mind," Cresselia explained. "If he truly has nothing to hide, then he has absolutely nothing to worry. On the other hand, if I still sense evil within him or if he tries to block my mental search entirely with his Dark-type nature, that should give him away as the villain we're all only too familiar with."
As Cresselia was speaking, Darkrai was desperately trying to think of a plan. "I can't let her see all of my mind!" he thought. "If she realizes that I remember everything, she'll expose me and stir up the entire town against me! But I can't just block my mind either because that will look much too suspicious. I've never obstructed only part of my mind before from anyone…but it's something that I'll have to try now if I ever want to get on their good side."
Darkrai focused deep into his own mind, sorting out which portions he would let Cresselia see and which memories he would kept hidden. Obviously, letting her know that he remembered his participation in the Temporal Crisis and Spatial Distortion Scheme were completely out of the question. He also concealed any antagonistic feelings that still lingered towards her, Lyceus, and Typhoon. Although his ordeal in the dimensional hole had sapped away his most of his hatred and desire for vengeance, there was still some lingering resentment that he just couldn't allow to be revealed. He would allow, he decided, Cresselia to see his confusion, his fear, his exhaustion…and his hopes that maybe he would be welcomed in Treasure Town instead of hated."
Cresselia faced Darkrai and her eyes glowed blue, an indication that she was channeling her psychic energy. Darkrai braced himself and focused on maintaining the dark barrier obscuring his blackest secrets as he felt the lunar swan probe his mind, searching for a single trace of lingering evil. After what seemed like an eternity, the swan vacated the Nightmare Pokémon's mind, sighed, and looked up.
"Lyceus, it appears that your analysis of Darkrai's aura and my own results are in accordance with each other," she reported. "I can't sense any evil within Darkrai's mind. It appears that he truly has suffered amnesia after all and is no longer the Pokémon we once knew."
Typhoon raised an eyebrow at her. "Does that mean we can safely bring Darkrai into Treasure Town and into the ranks of Team Basilikos?" he asked, his tone both questioning and a tad hopeful.
Cresselia shook her head. "Not yet. Though Darkrai may no longer be evil, he still has a horrendous reputation in Treasure Town first. I believe we should gather everyone in Treasure Town and alert them of these developments. That way, they will understand that Darkrai has become, for all intents and purposes, a completely different Pokémon, and won't attack him on the spot."
Typhoon looked over at Lyceus. "Are you okay with sticking around with Darkrai some more while Cresselia and I call Officer Magnezone and assemble everyone so that we can spread the news?"
Lyceus nodded. "Don't worry, Typhoon, I'll stick around with Darkrai." He laughed. "Heck you always got around Treasure Town better anyway."
/ Present Day /
"So that's how you avoided being exposed!" Giratina exclaimed. "You erected only a partial dark mind blockade rather than a full one."
Darkrai nodded. "Yeah, and it worked wonders. Though I don't think they fully trusted me yet, Cresselia, Lyceus, and Typhoon stopped treating me like an enemy. It felt…it felt weird not being actively attacked and antagonized by other people."
"I'm glad you finally found an opening to make some true friends, Darkrai," Giratina patted Darkrai's shoulder lightly with his wing. "So…you finally entered Treasure Town openly for the first time. What was that like?"
/ The Past /
Darkrai nervously looked around at the unmistakably hostile faces of Treasure Town's citizens. It was quite clear that none of them had forgotten about his evil scheme, and from the looks of things they probably weren't any mood to forgive him either.
"How do we know he really did lose his memories?" Kanghaskhan asked suspiciously as she stared the Pitch-Black Pokémon down.
"Our lovely storage mistress has a point…" the green Kecleon added darkly. "Can we really trust him?"
"Guys…" Typhoon interrupted. "We were the ones who defeated the darkness in the first place. Cresselia analyzed his memories and found nothing suspicious. Do you think we're lying to you?"
"Not at all!" the purple Kecleon exclaimed. "We would never insinuate that the noble Team Basilikos could be capable of something so horrible! It's just that…"
"…that this…former me…almost tried to destroy the world twice," Darkrai finished. "Don't worry, I'd be thinking the same in your shoes."
Cresselia interrupted them with a cough. "If I may have your attention," she announced, "it's been decided between Officer Magnezone, Lyceus, Typhoon, and Guildmaster Wigglytuff that Darkrai will be staying in Sharpedo Bluff with the leaders of Team Basilikos. I will be staying there myself to make sure that everything is in order," though everyone could tell what she really meant was to make sure Darkrai didn't try anything funny.
The town began murmuring and whispering amongst each other as Cresselia waited patiently for their response. Finally, the elder Ursaring spoke up, "I'm okay with that, I guess. If Darkrai really did lose his memories and is a whole different Pokémon now, we can't exactly chase him out of town in good conscience, can we?"
"Under the circumstances…no…" Xatu agreed in his mysterious manner of speech. "Perhaps…keeping him here…is the best course of action."
"ZZZZTTT…" Magnezone buzzed. "Cresselia! We will be leaving Darkrai under your supervision and the supervision of Team Basilikos! ZZZZTTTT!"
"Then it's settled then," Lyceus declared. "We'll be taking Darkrai over to our headquarters in Sharpedo Bluff. It's late now and we'll be better off showing him around town and the guild tomorrow. Until then, thanks for listening to us!"
"Thank you for warning us ahead of time!" Vigoroth declared back to general agreement from the audience.
"They trust Lyceus and because of that they trust me…" Darkrai thought. "Could I use this to my advantage? No, no…I promised I'd at least give the good side a fair shot. That means no tricks, no lies, not until I decide for myself whether it's worth playing the hero for a change."
"Are you all right, Darkrai?" Typhoon's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"No, no, Typhoon, I'm fine," the legendary brushed off the Empoleon's concern. "Just got a bit lost in thought."
Typhoon chuckled. "Lyceus used to do that all the time, what with his visions and all…"
Lyceus suddenly yawned. "Ugh, man I'm tired. Exploring can be so exhausting sometimes."
"Worth every second, though," Typhoon grinned. "We'll show you what we mean, Darkrai. You seem like you can hold your own in a fight, you ARE a legendary after all. Whattaya say? Wanna go on an exploration tomorrow?"
"An exploration?" Darkrai exclaimed. "So soon? I barely just met you!"
"So? Giratina started exploring with us the moment after we recruited him, and he's been a loyal part of our team ever since!" Lyceus brushed off the response. "Though he goes by the name Tenebros around here…"
"Giratina…" Darkrai thought wistfully. The one legendary who had treated him like a true friend from the beginning. "I hope he doesn't hold what I did against me. Maybe it's best if he believes the lie that I lost my memories."
"Anyway," Typhoon finished, completely oblivious to Darkrai's zoning off. "We'll be taking you to the guild to recruit you. If you want, we'll give you a nickname and then we'll be off. Is that all right with you?"
"I…I guess…"
/ Present Day /
Giratina smiled nostalgically. "I was the first legendary that Team Basilikos recruited. I think they were really excited that they managed to win the allegiance of one of the greats, though most people wouldn't be so excited to meet the god of death face to face."
"Most people don't know you're a nice guy, though," Darkrai replied. He suddenly smirked. "Also, Tenebros? What?"
He shrugged. "They tended to give out nicknames to the Pokémon they recruited. Tenebros means shadowy, but it doesn't actually have an evil connotation. I liked it." Giratina suddenly grinned. "So, then...your first exploration. It's different for everyone; some eagerly jump into the challenge, some tiptoe in cautiously and don't find the call 'til much later. Tell me Darkrai…what was it like for you?
/
I'm NOT dead everyone! Just…really busy. College pre-med life ftw and all…
Anyway, next chapter is Darkrai's first mission! Read and review please!
