Author's Note: Oh, hey, it's been a while since we last saw Darkrai. This is currently the last one of these I have planned for him, but I figured I should go ahead and get it out now. Anyway, since I have Darkrai actively zipping back and forth from the future, I found the prospect of him interacting with Dusknoir to be interesting, and wanted to at least give it a mention here.


Contact

For the most part, Darkrai had preferred to let Dialga (or 'Primal' Dialga, as he was usually called now) think that he was the one in charge. It was simpler to give him the illusion of power. As long as Dialga thought he was in control, it was easy to sneak around and do whatever he wanted.

Actively taking credit for things would probably just alert Dialga to his presence. He'd likely see Darkrai as a threat unless he promised to be Dialga's servant or something. And Darkrai couldn't have that—then he wouldn't have the freedom of movement he needed.

Still, he kept an eye on the temporal Pokémon. It was easy to get in and out of the Hidden Land now. With time broken down as it was, the entrance was weaker and easier to spot. It didn't need the keys or guides that it once had, and Darkrai could slip in and out unnoticed.

He had to say, Primal Dialga made for a wonderful enforcer. The unstable dragon and his underlings did a perfect job of terrifying the future's residents into submission. Darkrai could feed off the despair that Dialga sowed for him.

…It was a little unfortunate that he kept getting rid of his upper management so often, though. In his paranoia, Dialga tended to lash out and assume they were turning against him if they made the slightest mistake. Then, he'd have to spend some time looking for a new enforcer, which meant the Sableye would have less to do for a while. And that meant there were short gaps when Darkrai had to put more effort into draining the general population himself.

He'd thought the last one had held such promise, too. Banette had been especially cruel and vindictive, and she'd basically let the Sableye do whatever they wanted. She'd often sent them out to terrorize random pockets of the population just for fun, and then Darkrai could swoop in and drop them all into nightmares when they were too weak to resist.

But then Dialga decided she was wasting time, and as such didn't care about protecting him (which was probably true on its own), and therefore was actively trying to bring him down. After he'd had the Sableye execute Banette, he'd sent them off in search of a new boss.

Darkrai carefully observed the Dusknoir they brought in. He seemed eager to follow orders; whether he actually agreed with Dialga or he just wanted something to do didn't matter. Dialga evidently decided that his apparent 'loyalty' was good enough, and that was that.

Well, then. This should be good, Darkrai thought. If Dusknoir was so easy to order around, he should grow into the role well enough. And that hopefully meant he'd have a good, long tenure as Dialga's prime agent.

Though, admittedly, Darkrai intended to keep himself hidden for longer. He rarely showed himself to anyone with any level of power. Not because Darkrai didn't want it himself—no, a position of power would've been nice. It was more out of convenience than anything.

(Besides, he occasionally got spotted dropping Pokémon into nightmares, and Darkrai always enjoyed the looks of terror he got. As long as he could intimidate others into submission like that, they'd know who was really in charge.)

But, still—once that little research team formed, Darkrai knew he was at risk. He couldn't let them get too far. As long as Dusknoir kept the Sableye on track, he'd be fine, but…Darkrai didn't want to push his luck.

Tracking them down was always hard, but his ability to hide in the shadows helped. Darkrai managed to catch a meeting or two, and it all went without notice. There was one in particular that was important—the human woman in charge announced where she wanted to search next, and Darkrai carefully took note of the location.

Dark Crater. He wouldn't dirty his hands directly, but…Darkrai could do something nonetheless. After making his way to the Hidden Land, he located Dusknoir and materialized in front of him.

"Excuse me, friend," he said. "I need a moment of your time."

Dusknoir's eye narrowed. "…Who are you, and how did you get here?"

"That's not important," Darkrai replied, waving a hand in some vague dismissive gesture. "All that matters is that I'm a friend, and I have information you may find necessary."

"Fine. I'm listening."

"There's a group looking to harm your precious Master Dialga. You've heard of the Time Gears, yes? Well, they're hot on the trail of one of them. Send your Sableye to Dark Crater. You'll thank me later."

Dusknoir folded his arms, still eyeing Darkrai warily. It was clear the Ghost-Type didn't completely trust him, but Darkrai doubted he wanted to take the risk, either. Finally, Dusknoir sighed and nodded.

"Well, I suppose it's worth looking into. I'll send a few out that way as soon as I can. But if I find you were lying to me…"

"Yes, yes, I understand. Shall I prove myself somehow? Give you more information as I find it?"

"Do as you wish." Dusknoir's eye narrowed again. "Just be aware that Master Dialga is not merciful when angered."

"I know, I know. Not to worry—I don't want to see this world altered in any way, and I'm sure you don't either. Disastrous consequences for both of us, and all that." Darkrai waved dismissively again. "Rest assured, I'll let you know if I come across anything else."

"Wait! What do you—"

It was too late for an answer, as Darkrai had already started melting into the shadows. He was gone before Dusknoir could finish. Darkrai wasn't sure if he didn't know what the 'consequences' were, or if Dusknoir simply wanted to know how he knew. Well, either way, Darkrai had been planning on stopping by one or two more times… Maybe feeding Dusknoir information (while letting him do most of the work) would be useful in the long run.

Yes…playing the part of a 'helpful' ally would have its benefits. Darkrai wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it sooner.

He doubted he'd ever need to do it again if Dusknoir successfully took out the investigation team for him, but…maybe Darkrai would keep it in mind nonetheless.