Master of Bad Dreams
The Fate of the New Moon Pokémon?
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
"Pokémon" – Normal Speech
'Pokémon' – Thoughts
Pokémon – Flashback
Pokémon – Move Names
{Pokémon} – Pokédex
Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,
Cresselia realized that humans had caused Darkrai to grow too strong even for her so she decided to try and leave this in the hands of a human. It must take a human to clean up the mess made by humans. She then took to the moon shining through the darkness and shared what power she had left before fainting from using her signature move, Lunar Dance.
It helped Pikachu get back on his feet, even more powerful than he ever felt. But Darkrai was not going to let the Mouse Pokémon fight back and charged at Pikachu, ignoring both Cresselia and Ash which was going to be his undoing for the second time that very night. "Monferno, Mach Punch!" Darkrai couldn't stop a red blur from hitting him in the face since Mach Punch has the highest priority rate; meaning that it always goes first no matter how fast Darkrai maybe.
When Darkrai was hit away from Pikachu he saw that same Pokémon still on him. "Monferno use Close Combat with Mach Punch and then Will-o-Wisp!" As if two attacks have combined into one with all the attributes, Darkrai was hit by punches and kicks all moving before he could. The sheer force of that combined assault finally separated the Pitch-Black Pokémon from the red one that Ash summoned from his Pokéball. Darkrai was too busy shaking off the attacks that actually stunned him; he never noticed that the Pokémon had covered him in small fireballs that successfully burned him all over.
The burn actually hurt a lot and Darkrai even lost some of his speed and strength in the pain but he was not out yet. Instead he saw Ash, standing tall and ready for action again; with the plan to get even with Darkrai from that nightmare of a trap. Also Darkrai saw Pokémon in front of Ash along with Pikachu.
One of them was the one that Ash summoned to deal with the fast paced punches and the burn causing fireballs and he was a bipedal, primate-like Pokémon. Orange fur covers most of its body, except for its ears, muzzle, fingers, and circular areas on its palms, feet, and chest, which are tan. A small tuft of fur extends from the top of Monferno's head, and it has oval, brown eyes. Its eyes have a thick blue marking above and a small, red marking in-between. Its muzzle is short and blunt, with two small, pointed teeth it its upper jaw. There is a white ruff of fur around its neck and gold bands around its arms near its shoulders. It has five fingers on each hand, but only three toes on each foot. Its long tail has a red ring around the base and a flame burning at the tip.
Ash knew for a fact that the flame on Monferno's tail has several purposes. It can be controlled to keep opponents at an ideal distance or stretched in order to make Monferno appear larger. The size of its flame, in combination with brightness of its facial marking, indicates this Pokémon's position in its pack. The bigger the flame and the brighter the pattern, this higher the Pokémon's position. In addition to using its flaming tail as a weapon, Monferno can also leap from ceilings or walls to perform aerial attacks.
Ash sure kept this from his friends that his Monferno had evolved from Chimchar a few days ago when his training had finally hit the point of evolving. Dawn and Brock were just too busy and never listened to when Ash tried to show off his newly evolved Monferno to them. But they do know about the Pokémon currently standing next to Monferno.
It was a quadruped Pokémon with light green skin and a large shell covering its back. The shell is composed of hardened soil and conforms to the shape of its body, extending from its forehead to the tip of its short tail. The shell appears sectioned and is yellow with three long, brown ridges atop it. There are two bush-like trees growing around the outermost ridges. Its lower jaw is yellow and has triangular extensions on the cheeks, while its upper jaw has a hooked tip. Its feet are yellow and have three claws each. It was Ash's Grotle who evolved a few weeks before Chimchar did into Monferno.
Next to them both was an orange Pokémon resembling a weasel and a sea otter. The yellow collar that surrounds its neck can be inflated and used as a flotation device when it inhales. By inflating this sac, it can keep its face above water to watch for prey movement. It has two blue fins on its arms and a tail, which appears to be split, that resembles a fish's fin. Its tail acts as a boat propeller by spinning, though it was seen flying using its tail. There are parallel marks on their cheeks. Additionally, it has cream paw pads on its feet. It was Ash's Buizel, who was captured by Dawn but after some failed attempts to train him for contests he was traded to Ash for battling and not one of them ever regretted the trade.
In the air above them all were two Pokémon. One of them was a large, mainly blue-purple vampire bat-like Pokémon. Its legs have two toes and a slightly darker circular coloration on the underside, and its tail has two barbs, giving its tail the resemblance of a vampire's fangs. Its arms are red with thin striations, and are completely detached from its black wings, and each are ended with large pincers. Its ears have discernible, red, chambered ear insides, and its eyes are yellow. It has six visible fangs in its mouth, and its waist, like its arms, is red and striated. Its body resembles an open mouth, with the pointed protrusions coming from its upper torso resembling fangs, further illustrating its vampiric qualities. It was Ash's Gliscor and the first one that Ash had evolved under the conditions which involved holding an item and the time of day.
The other one was a grayish-brown, avian Pokémon with black and white markings. Its head and upper body are primarily black with an "M"-shaped pattern over its white chest. On its forehead is a grayish-brown spot, which is smaller on the female. On its face is a white, mask-like marking with a pattern of spikes along the lower edge. It has small, black eyes with white pupils and a long, orange beak with a black tip. On the back of its head is a long tuft of feathers, which curves forward. The lower halves of its wings are black, and it has black tail feathers with a single white feather in the center. Its orange, Anisodactyl feet have black talons. It was the very first Pokémon that Ash had caught here in Sinnoh, like the other common Flying and Normal type duel types that Ash always caught first in the other regions.
Darkrai looked at them all and not one of Ash's Pokémon are losing their focus or even stirring to his appearance. Normally he could feel afraid but instead he managed to make a smile that only he knew that he was making and readied himself for one heck of a fight. It was going to change both his and everyone's lives once the upcoming battle ends.
"Use Rock Climb Grotle and you use Taunt Monferno!" Ash then made his next set of moves and his two Pokémon carried them out with their experience kicking in. Grotle's claws glow white, then grow longer. He then runs quickly at the opponent and hits it with one of its claws, or slams into it with great force. He can also jump extremely high when using the attack, or Grotle's claws glow white and extend, and he gets on its hind legs and slams his front ones into the ground. A giant mountain then protrudes from the ground under the opponent. Grotle runs up the side of the mountain and slams into the opponent with great force.
But this time, Monferno hitched a ride on Grotle's back while indeed taunting the Pitch Black Pokémon by grinning and slapping his bottom in a way to enrage Darkrai; and Monferno succeed. Darkrai couldn't use any status moves which included its signature Dark Void.
Instead, Darkrai resorted to using attack moves. It then realized that Grotle is a grass type and from his experience, there is a move he can use against Grotle that will really deal some damage. Darkrai puts its hands together and forms a light blue ball of energy in between them. It then puts its hands in front of it and the ball grows slightly larger. It then fires light blue beams from the ball at the opponent, with all the intention to freeze it. And Darkrai is now trying to freeze Grotle.
"Counter with Flamethrower Monferno!" Ash saw it all and had somehow carried his voice to the two Pokémon. The fire and fighting type had heard it in the wind and unleashed a powerful stream of flames that struck at the Ice Beam. It was too bad that while Darkrai's attack power was dished, Ice Beam was still a special move and it didn't lose any power.
Monferno was only able to gain the upper hand when Darkrai's burn had kicked in hard and the Pitch-Black Pokémon some lost its focus on the Ice Beam. By then, the Flamethrower had finally landed on Darkrai and Grotle had completed his Rock Climb.
"Now use Leaf Storm Grotle!" After Monferno had to take a breather from the Flamethrower, Grotle raises its head and calls out, making multiple leaves gather around it and start to glow green. The leaves then spiral around Grotle in a tornado-like fashion, then it points its head at the opponent and the leaves fire at it like a cyclone, hitting it hard. And Darkrai was hit very hard.
But that was the time for Monferno's Taunt to subside and quicker than anyone can react, Pokémon or trainer, Darkrai used Dark Void on Monferno, putting the fire and fighting Pokémon to sleep and out of action, and then Darkrai's eyes flash red and it creates a shadow-like version of itself. The shadow then goes through a sleeping opponent, sucking up its energy. Monferno was a fighting type so the Psychic type move had put him out of action right on the spot and Darkrai had recovered its lost energy.
Seeing Ash and Grotle gasp at the sight, Darkrai avenged himself completely by using Ice Beam on Grotle. That time, there was no flamethrower to block it and Grotle fell to the power of the Ice Beam. "Monferno! Grotle!" Ash yelled out in disbelief and then summoned their Pokéballs, to return them back to his side. "Buizel, you can take that Ice Beam so use Rain Dance first!"
That was a very solid plan and only by one who was familiar with all the relationships his Pokémon has with other move types. Buizel dances around, always staying on one leg and switching back and forth between the two. He also moves its hands back and forth first with its palms open, then with his pointer fingers sticking up. After a while, rain clouds appear in the sky and it starts to pour. And since it is raining while not affecting the darkness of the night much, Buizel's Swift Swim ability will kick in.
That was proven when Darkrai tried to use Dark Void again but Buizel was able to accelerate and move out of the way. "Now use Double Team and then Aqua Jet!" Double Team was dependent on the Pokémon's speed in terms of how many copies it can make to confuse the target. Buizel was able to make a hundred copies and they all became surrounded by water and it rises into the air and tackles the opponent. To move, they spun their tails like a propeller.
Darkrai tried to use Ice Beam and Dark Void to hit Buizel but instead, it either missed or hit one of the fake copies. Combined with Darkrai getting hit by Buizel's Aqua Jet nonstop, the Pitch-lack Pokémon had enough. Darkrai furiously soared to the sky and crouches together and it extends its arms quickly, making a wave of purple circles come out of its body and hit the opponent, or Darkrai puts its hands together and forms a ball of black and purple circles. Then crouches and spins while holding out one of its hands, making the orb float over to the end of the hand. Finally, it fires a beam of black and purple circles from the orb at the ground.
The sheer might of the Dark Pulse was enough to shake the very earth, destabilizing Ash and his Pokémon while somehow destroying all the copies in one fell swoop. Now Darkrai can hit Buizel. "Use Aqua Jet again and at Darkrai!" Ash yelled out after getting his balance back.
Buizel engulfed his body again with water and charged for Darkrai. The Pitch-Black Pokémon tried to hit Buizel with Dark Void but missed every time until Darkrai chose its Ice Beam again. But Ash knew this will happen. "Head into it and do as we trained and practiced!"
Buizel nodded and charged into the Ice Beam only to have himself frozen stiff and yet Buizel was still going and hit Darkrai hard with a move that he had learned from a coordinator and mastered with a battle trainer. But all that did do so damage with a greater consequence as now, Darkrai couldn't miss Buizel anymore and the water type fell to a close strike Dark Void and Dream Eater followed by a powerful Dark Pulse.
"Buizel!" Ash had the look of losing hope. He pulled everything he had into his three Pokémon but Darkrai looks like it never got hurt. Time for drastic measures and really pushing to the bone if this Legendary is going down.
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Meanwhile, Officer Jenny has taken the chance to take Cresselia away from Darkrai who has gotten too powerful even for the Luna Pokémon. She said that if this ever to happen, then Cresselia will need to grow stronger as well and to that was to first heal her back to full health and have good dreams that will enhance her powers.
But with Darkrai still kicking, it will be next to impossible for the second requirement so the trainers were forced to leave it all to Ash to weaken Darkrai so that its everlasting nightmares will at least fade.
Ash may have seen, encountered and even protected himself and others from Legendries as well as beat two of them but this Legendary Pokémon was nowhere near those levels. This Legendary Pokémon was like in its background, in the zone, the strongest it can ever be and nothing like any other wild Darkrai. That was why Darkrai was more than a match even for its polar counterpart but if Ash could weaken and exhaust Darkrai then the city will be spared.
Nurse Joy maybe no more sleepy than anyone else but she was going to give it all she had to heal Cresselia in her Pokémon Center. "Come one. Ash can't do it forever." Dawn was antsy and impatient with Nurse Joy and who wouldn't after leaving their friend to something that is nowhere above suicidal.
"Calm down Ms. Dawn. We are feeling the same things as you but we can't afford to get sloppy at a time like this." The city's Officer Jenny was still going to do her own duty even though she never got a good night's sleep.
"Yeah. We are going to do this right even if it seems to take forever." Brock could have passed off as agreeing with Officer Jenny only because he had a habit of being tied around every girl he falls for and that is better much every girl he sees around his age group.
"I know, I know. I just want to at least be there if Ash gets into trouble. He already gets into trouble, whatever he started it or not." Dawn retorted but then saw that last statement while trying to avoid the glances of the other trainers who had to release their harden stares when they saw a young girl trying her best to take every chance to help her friend.
An explosion had then rocked the Pokémon Center but they kept their focus because they had a good idea what was happening out there. They still need to get Cresselia back into action so that they could fix all this and help Ash before he runs out of Pokémon. 'Ash please be careful and be safe.' Dawn thought as she tried to put her worry aside and focus on her hopes.
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When the trainers got back to the city square where the battle was taking place, they were greeted a very sad sight and shocking too. A Staravia and a Gliscor were found on the ground, wounded and unable to move. Their groans actually gave some relief since that means they are not dead.
And yet their Pokéballs were around so the trainers couldn't return both flying type Pokémon. But all that was forgotten when they heard a voice followed a bright light that was clear and shined even through the darkness Darkrai had created.
"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle and Giga Impact!" That was Ash's voice for sure but it was also the voice of a kid who was on the verge of crying. They were able to see Ash's Pikachu charging to Darkrai that actually looked worn out and tired with burns and bruises all over. Pikachu engulfed itself in yellow electricity of Volt Tackle but that color was mixed with the bright color of Giga Impact to make a wonder to behold. One that Darkrai was unable to stop no matter what moves it kept throwing at this Pikachu.
Darkrai was hit by Pikachu and was engulfed in an explosion of grand colors and electricity raw. Pikachu was sent into Ash's direction, out cold from that attack, but Darkrai was sent into the opposite direction, not moving. Ash then used what little sanity had left by the expression on his face to take out a Pokéball which drove the trainer's attention to see various other Pokéballs lying on the ground, useless and failed to capture Darkrai. A normal Pokéball was risky but also Ash's last resort.
The Pokéball reached the down form of Darkrai who didn't move as much as an inch the whole time and was turned into red energy and drained into the Pokéball. The Pokéball fell to the ground to determine if the capture was successful. After three shakes that seemed to last an eternality, a ding was faint but still went like a car horn in their ears.
Ash then shakily took the Pokéball in his hand and scanned it with his Pokédex that was shaking along with him. The computer voice that emerged from the Pokédex was the only thing not shaking.
{Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon. Legend has it that on a moonless night, Darkrai will lure people to sleep and unleash nightmares upon them. This Pokémon is Male like most of this Pokémon species. This Pokémon knows Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Snarl, Nightmare, Dark Void, Ominous Wind, Dream Eater, Nasty Plot and Calm Mind.}
"…I did it…" Ash then said in a low and broken tone, like he was about to break apart. Dawn tried to get closer as well as Brock, in order to comfort their friend but they were beaten to the punch. Cresselia approached Ash and touched his head. Ash then looked up to Cresselia who never once flinched or falter after seeing his expression and instead smiled.
But Ash didn't. He just kept crying and shaking as if he was a newborn deer. "I am sorry." He finally spoke after relaxing his breathing but everyone still heard his low voice. "I am sorry Cresselia."
The Luna Pokémon was also curious as to why Ash was saying such things. He had saved the city and stopped the rampaging Darkrai. He even caught it, something that not even the Champions come close to doing.
Ash saw it all and explained, "With Darkrai now gone, no one needs you anymore." Everyone gasped at that statement. "The city only needed you because Darkrai had chosen to plague this place with nightmares. They only need you and welcomed you so that they can sleep well at night but now nightmares can never happen again, there is no need for a Pokémon who can quell them anymore. I am sorry Cresselia."
Everyone listening just didn't think of it that way. Ash must have gotten a surge of foresight when he had watched his Pokémon fall and did something he was expecting to fail. Then Cresselia suddenly, giggled.
{Don't fear young Ash.} A voice that sounded a lot like telepathy had emerged from Cresselia. {You are such a wonderful and thoughtful young man and a brilliant trainer to match Darkrai at his true potential. Something that we Legendries never get to show even to the other members of our species.} Ash just tried to avoid all that praise, thinking he doesn't deserve it or something. {Darkrai may be captured and subdued but he was only a Pokémon that feeds on nightmares and in turn get strong enough to cause his own. Darkrai only spread nightmares, not create them. I am still needed by these inhabitants because fear is natural and so is a nightmare. They will still need my power for peace. You didn't ruin anything Ash. You have gift, treasure it because Darkrai now serves you.}
Ash heard every word despite his clouded mind and started to feel a little better with his tears finally dry and his frown turned into a smile. "I understand Cresselia. I thank you for all this." Ash said in a low tone and bowed to the Luna Pokémon even after she used her powers to restore the night and dispel the spell Darkrai has left on all the living beings of the city.
Dawn then decided to risk it and approached Ash who was still on the ground, clutching the ball that contains Darkrai. She then saw that Ash looked as defenseless and vulnerable as a little kid. Dawn took pity and tried hugging Ash.
When he didn't move, she gave up but when she released Ash, "Thanks." Ash spoke in a louder tone. "This is all I really want Dawn. All there is left to get some sleep, all of us." Ash then whipped his face clean of tears and begun to pick up his messes while everyone was wondering if Dawn's hug really caused a big 180 in Ash's mood. "Come on, I am sure that we will have good dreams tonight." Ash said when he turned to face them all with a grin which was almost as bright as the sun. Jenny and Brock shook their heads at the whole thing while Dawn was having a monster blush on her face for some reason.
End of Chapter 2.
*What do you think, I guess that I have the habit of keeping you all waiting for more but I felt like this was necessary to break off from Ash's battle with Darkrai to show how it was going with his friends with Cresselia.
I hope it is good because I was getting a little worried on what to put down. I will handle any advice or criticism as an author but please no flames! Have a nice fall, it is finally here!*
