A/N: Having rediscovered the greatest way to waste time, playing Pokémon Platinum, I'm suddenly inclined to continue on this fic!

Chapter 4 – Wigglytuff's Guild

/ Sharpedo Bluff, Team Basilikos HQ /

"Haaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh….." Lyceus yawned as he stretched his arms out wide. "Good morning, guys!"

Typhoon groggily rubbed his eyes with his fins. "Morning, Lyceus…" he mumbled. "Any bad dreams last night?"

"Well," the Lucario mused, "some of my dreams looked like they were going to build up to nightmares, but they turned out for the better in the end. I guess that's Cresselia's and Darkrai's powers cancelling each other out?"

"Probably," Typhoon shrugged. He turned to the two beds holding Cresselia and Darkrai. "Morning, you two."

"Morning," Darkrai sleepily replied as he slowly got on his feet.

Typhoon grinned. "You're going to have a blast today! We're taking you on your first adventure!"

That wiped away any lingering drowsiness in an instant. "An adventure?" he repeated in surprise.

"We're taking you exploring!" the Empoleon explained eagerly. "One of the best ways you can help people out and have fun at the same time is by taking the jobs on the mission boards!"

"Mission…boards…?" Darkrai repeated, obviously having no clue what was going on.

Cresselia at this point decided to rescue him. "You haven't exactly told him anything about exploring yet," she pointed out dryly. "You might want to start there."

Lyceus smacked the palm of his hand onto his face. "Oh, right…" he muttered. "My bad, Darkrai. We need to introduce you to Wigglytuff's Guild first and let them know you're taking part as an active member of the team. Let's take care of that right now."

"Exploring is great," Typhoon added with a confident grin. "You'll love it, trust me."

"Uh…okay…" Darkrai muttered. Typhoon's enthusiasm hadn't quite infected him, but he was certainly interested in what they were talking about. "I guess my new life starts here," he thought as he followed Lyceus and Typhoon out into Treasure Town, Cresselia following closely behind.

/ Wigglytuff's Guild /

"And three!" the guild members all shouted. "Smiles go for miles!"

"All right, everybody!" Chatot announced. "Time to get to work!"

"HOOOOOORAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" everyone cheered. Chatot was just about to give them their duties, when Diglett suddenly popped his head up from his sentry hole.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" he shouted.

"WHOSE FOOT IS IT?" Loudred demanded.

"It's Lyceus! Lyceus and Typhoon!" Everyone stopped what they were doing as Diglett went to check to see if anyone else was with them. He popped back up moments later. "They've brought Darkrai and Cresselia with them too!"

There was a collective gasp from the entire guild. "DARKRAI?" Loudred repeated, stunned. "WHAT DOES HE WANT?"

"Oh my gosh!" Sunflora exclaimed. "THE Darkrai? The same Darkrai who tried to destroy the world twice? Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my…"

"Hey, hey!" Corphish suddenly remembered something. "Officer Magnezone told us about this yesterday. He had a feeling Darkrai might come by today, hey, hey!"

"Remember, everyone!" Wigglytuff interrupted them all. "Darkrai doesn't remember being evil. We don't want to be the ones who destroy the world by making him feel unwanted, right? Right now he could be a new friendly-friend! So let's open that gate and let all of our old friends inside! Yoom-TAH!"

As he shouted the last two syllables he leapt excitedly into the air before landing back down onto the ground.

"Guildmaster, you're just as excited and cheerful as ever, it appears," Chatot wryly chuckled as he motioned for Diglett to open the gate.

/ Guild Entrance /

"Was that Wigglytuff's voice I just heard down there?" Typhoon asked Lyceus with a confused look.

"Knowing the Guildmaster, he probably already knows we're here," Lyceus answered back. "Would be rude to keep them waiting at this point, eh?"

The Empoleon nodded in agreement. "Fair enough," he replied as he beckoned for Darkrai and Cresselia to follow them. The four of them climbed or floated down the ladders until they made their way to the bottom floor of the guild, where all of their guild friends were waiting.

"Everyone!" Lyceus called out to them. "This is Darkrai! He's the newest member of Team Basilikos!"

The guild members all started muttering and whispering to each other. "Golly, did he just say newest member?" Bidoof whispered to Chimecho.

"That's what I heard," she whispered back.

"I'M NOT SURE THIS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA," Loudred tried and failed to keep his voice quiet.

"Squawk! I heard that Loudred!" Chatot shouted at him indignantly. Though his own facial expression suggested that he had just as many misgivings as they did.

"Guys, guys!" Typhoon finally brought their attention back to him and Darkrai. "Is this how you treat a guest to the guild? I thought you were all better than that!"

Everyone shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, hey, I guess you're right," Corphish reluctantly admitted. He then waved over at Darkrai. "Hey there, stranger! I'm Corphish, hey, hey!"

"Oh my gosh," Sunflora was the next to introduce herself to Darkrai, "I'm Sunflora! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Bidoof, yup yup! Golly, it's great to meet Team Basilikos' newest recruit!"

"I'M LOUDRED!" Loudred bellowed.

"I'm Chimecho," the medic of the guild chimed in.

"We are pleased to meet you," Dugtrio's three heads spoke in unison, while his son made a similar greeting.

"Meh-heh-heh, I'm Croagunk," the poison frog croaked from his station at the swap cauldron.

Darkrai looked utterly flustered. "Nice to meet…all of you…too," he barely managed to reply.

"All right, all right everyone, let's give Darkrai some room," Chatot interrupted them. "Now then, Lyceus, what can we do for you?"

"Well…" the Lucario answered, "we were thinking of taking Darkrai on an exploration with us."

"SQUAWK!" Chatot exclaimed. "An…an exploration, you say?"

"Well, why not?" Typhoon replied. "It's not like Darkrai's an evil Pokémon anymore. Why shouldn't he get a chance to join in the fun of adventure?"

"Err…well…" their former mentor looked utterly bewildered, but then gave a weak chuckle. "Ha ha! Don't mind me!" he attempted to shake off his confusion. "We can meet privately with the Guildmaster in his office, then. No need to for everyone else to hear the basics that they already know, eh?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Wigglytuff agreed cheerfully. "Come right in, old friendly-friends! And you too, new friendly-friend!" he added gesturing at Darkrai. "There's so much to talk about exploring! Let's go!"

/ Present /

"Wigglytuff actually invited you into his office?" Giratina asked. "Wow! I've worked with Team Basilikos for a while and I've never actually been in there!"

Darkrai raised an eyebrow. "I think the fact that you're taller than one of the floors has something to do with it, don't you think?"

Giratina shrugged. "Could be. Plus they generally don't let anybody except for senior team leaders inside the guild, apart from the guild members themselves obviously. Ever since the whole disaster with Team Skull, they've been a lot more careful about that. You and Cressy were probably special exceptions since, well, you know…"

"Yeah…" the Nightmare legendary muttered. He suddenly looked up determinedly. "Enough of that though. It's a past that's better left buried forever. Wigglytuff went through two hours straight explaining the basics of exploring. Gotta say, he might be a goofball, but he sure knows his stuff."

/ Wigglytuff's Office /

"So you're saying that as I get more experienced and eat more gummis, I can get special innate abilities that can help me out in exploring dungeons?" Darkrai asked, his head spinning.

"That's right, Darkrai!" Wigglytuff sang cheerfully. "We call it IQ, and it's powered up by eating lots of gummis!" He suddenly looked over at Lyceus and Typhoon. "You have a few wonder gummis left from your last exploration of Zero Isle, don't you? You should share them with Darkrai and show him what I mean!"

"Sure thing, Guildmaster!" Typhoon agreed. "We've also got a couple of vitamins in storage and some TMs that could help Darkrai be better suited for exploring. How about it, Darkrai?"

"It certainly sounds…interesting," he admitted. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try?"

"Don't forget to make those gummis into drinks at Spinda's Cafe!" Chatot called out after them as the four of them prepared to leave. "That way you get the most out of consuming them!"

"We'll do, Chatot!" Lyceus shouted back as the four of them made their way out of the guild.

To Cresselia's surprise, Darkrai directed the next question to her. "You said your name was…Cresselia, right?"

"That's correct, Darkrai," the Lunar Swan Pokémon responded. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"What…what do gummis taste like?" Darkrai asked lamely. In all of his years planning the world of darkness he never spent the time to enjoy the finer things in life, something he was only now beginning to regret.

Cresselia looked a bit flustered as she tried to come up with an answer. "Well…it all depends, really," she explained. "Each Pokémon has a particular type of gummi that they enjoy, depending on their type. For Psychic-types like me, we really like Gold gummis. For Dark-types like you, I can imagine that Black gummis would be more to your liking. Some Pokémon have multiple favorites since they have two types, and all Pokémon in general don't like the gummis of types that they resist besides their own."

"I…see…" Darkrai muttered, though it was obvious to everyone that he was still utterly bewildered.

"We'll take care of that for you," Typhoon decided to rescue him from his confusion. "We have quite a couple of gummis in storage and we can always buy more at Kecleon Market. I'm pretty sure we have a couple of Black and other gummis." He laughed. "It won't be long before you have the greatest snacks of your life!"

"I'm looking forward to it!" Darkrai replied. And he found, to his amazement, that his words really were the truth.

/ Present /

"Oh, man," Giratina grinned. "Gummis are awesome, aren't they? Too bad humans don't make them anymore. All we have left now are berries and poffins. Not that I have a problem with the latter," he added quickly.

"Poffins aren't bad," Darkrai shrugged, "though they can't compare to Spinda's gummi shakes. Oh man, now THAT was some good stuff that I'll always miss."

"Maybe for you," Giratina smirked. "Remember, all souls pass into Turnback Cave. That includes Team Basilikos AND Spinda. Every Saturday I hang out with them in the Distortion World. And let me tell you, Spinda's shakes are still as amazing as ever."

If Darkrai had a typical jaw it would have dropped to the ground. "And you've been hiding that from us?" he spluttered angrily. "You…you…you asshole! Keeping something that amazing from the rest of us! Do you know how many of us legendaries would KILL to have those shakes again?"

"Shhhhhh…." Giratina interrupted. "If you can keep it a secret, Darkrai, I'll invite you over to have a Black gummi drink next week. Sound good?"

Darkrai hesitated, then grinned. "It's a deal! Though I still kinda feel bad about hiding this from the rest of our friends…"

"Don't worry about it," Giratina smirked. "Even though my job's important, I still barely get to see the light of day compared to the rest of you guys. I'm hoarding whatever perks I can get."

"Fair enough," his friend admitted. "Anyway, speaking of Spinda's Café…"

/ Spinda's Café /

"Here we are, guys!" Typhoon announced to Darkrai. "Spinda's Café. The finest eating establishment for explorers in all of Treasure Town! Get your taste buds ready, Darkrai!"

Darkrai looked around in astonishment. Scattered throughout the Café were several tables filled with exploration teams eagerly chatting and planning out their next adventures. Many of them looked up in surprise and even fear at seeing Darkrai enter the Café, but one glare from Lyceus or Typhoon sent them back to their business.

"All righty then!" Typhoon gestured towards a table where Darkrai and Cresselia sat down. "As soon as we feed you a nice meal and get you some TMs, we'll be good to go!" Before he even finished speaking, Lyceus had already grabbed four Black Gummis and two Wonder Gummis before handing them over to Spinda.

"Six drinks, please! One with each Gummi! These are all going to our new friend Darkrai!" Lyceus ordered.

"Of course!" Spinda happily exclaimed as he scooped up the gummis. "Adding the gummis," he muttered to himself as he put them in separate shakers. One by one, he grabbed each shaker and began to mix them around while singing the tune that everyone was so familiar with. "Shake them this way…shake them that way…stir them all around…and they're done!" he announced, handing six different types of drinks over to Lyceus. Typhoon got up to help take some of them in his fins, while Cresselia moved the last few with her Psychic abilities. Before Darkrai knew what was going on, he found himself with six drinks in front of him.

"Go on, try them!" Typhoon encouraged. "You'll love it!"

"Errrrmmmm…okay," came a very flustered reply. Darkrai picked up one drink and brought the straw up to his mouth before taking a sip.

It was simply perfection. Nothing he had ever eaten or tasted could come close to the raw awesomeness he was now experiencing. "Oh my Arceus…" he breathed. "This…this has to be straight from the Hall of Origin! I must have more!" As his three new friends watched in delight, Darkrai utterly consumed every single one of the six drinks that had been prepared for him. The Nightmare Pokémon let out a satisfied sigh as he felt the power of the drinks course through his body.

"I can feel my body becoming stronger," he marveled. "Is this what Wigglytuff meant by boosting IQ?"

"That's it exactly!" Typhoon confirmed. "A few gummis alone won't do much, but as you take on more of them your IQ will go ever higher. As will this," he took out what appeared to be some sort of mystical box. "It's an IQ booster," he explained. "As long as you hold this in Mystery Dungeons, it will boost your IQ as well over time without the need for gummis."

"I see," Darkrai mused as he took the device in his hands. "I'll hold onto this for our exploration, then. Now, what were you saying earlier about TMs?"

"Oh, those!" it was Lyceus' turn to answer. "They're machines that can only be used once to teach a Pokémon a move they can't normally learn. We got a few for you here," he took out three TMs.

"These TMs contain the moves Dark Pulse and Ice beam," Lyceus explained. "Boot them up and you'll be able to learn those moves. They're very powerful attacking options and great for exploring."

"I see…" Darkrai muttered. "And which move do you wish for me to keep?"

Cresselia thought for a moment. "In terms of pragmatism, it would be best for you to keep Nightmare and Ominous Wind. Moves that can hit multiple foes are very valuable in Mystery Dungeons, and Nightmare will synergize well with your ability to weaken Pokémon in their sleep." She suddenly realized the irony of her words with a wry smile. "Of course, I wouldn't normally be one to suggest such a thing, but since Mystery Dungeons are different from interactions with ordinary people I guess it'll be okay."

"Wow, Cresselia," Lyceus interjected with a mildly surprised expression. "You're the last person I'd expect to say something like that. I guess you're not 100% of a heroine like I thought you were."

The Lunar Swan shrugged. "Nobody's perfect."

/ The Present /

"I have to say," Darkrai commented, "I never really saw the pragmatic side of Cresselia until then. Back when I was evil I always thought she was just a goody two-shoes always getting in my way. In a way it was almost kind of refreshing."

"Everyone's got some measure of good and evil in them," Giratina replied. "I'm probably one of the best examples there is, but the same applies to you, Cresselia, the other legendaries, and every soul living in the entire world. It really comes down to which side overcomes the other. Luckily for both of us, the good won out in the end."

"How very true," Darkrai murmured. "How very true."

/

I kinda lied. NEXT chapter will be Darkrai's first exploration.

Read and review please!