Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I do however own Alex, and this characterization of a member of the Darkrai species. Also, the librarian.
Chapter three:
Paranoia
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Alex blinked to let her eyes adjust to the relatively dim interior of the library. A cursory inspection of the large room crammed with bookshelves revealed a small computer station that, being familiar with the inner workings of libraries, Alex knew was used to find books via their Dewey Decimal number and check their availability. Making her way over to it, the trainer considered her morning.
While the day had started out atmospherically foggy, it had brightened considerably since then. Alex had, in order to cover her tracks, agreed to take the young male trainer up to Newmoon island in her rented boat, spreading her cover story of an interrupted transit last night to the dock master when she went to extend her rent. As with the young trainer, she had gotten a sympathetic response to her story, and even a discount on the boat. Alex felt a little bit guilty about lying to the businessman, but pushed the emotion aside and humbly accepted the keys she had left on the boat in her haste the previous night.
After having traveled to the island the before, Alex had to make sure that she kept referencing the map the dock master had provided in order to keep up appearances while ferrying the young trainer. Considering the boy's excited chattering, however, she really needn't have bothered with the subtleties of her deceit. Still, a believable story was a consistent story, and attention to detail was one of her strongest suits.
Alex frowned, drawn from her reverie. The library did indeed have quite a collection relating to legendary Pokémon, but almost all of them were checked out… and overdue. Contemplating the possibility of a filing error, Alex logged off of the computer and sought out the books physically.
Upon arriving at the island, the boy had promptly jumped off the boat while Alex tied off the moor line, called dibs on the (ex)resident legendary Pokémon, and took off into the woods. The older trainer had followed at a more sedate pace, and, after a few hours of (predictably) fruitless searching, guided a disappointed youngster back to the boat. They had, ironically, forgotten to pack a lunch, and needed to head back to town to eat.
Alex had on the surface shared the boy's disappointment, but declined to try again that night, referencing the price of extending the boat rent again, and, when the younger trainer had offered to pay (and reimburse the money she had already spent on the boat—seriously, how much money did this kid have?), revealed that she needed to start traveling again the next morning and couldn't afford to stay up all night looking for a myth. She then guiltily reassured the pouting boy that he could probably hire someone to take him out to the island that night if he started asking around. Then again, the only person who would be crazy enough to boat to the island at night would be a trainer, and almost every single trainer in town had probably already had their asses handed to them by Darkrai. A Pokémon which, she imagined, would probably be laughing its tail off right about now if it had any idea of the runaround she had been forced to give to keep her involvement in its disappearance secret.
Arriving at the shelves that were supposed to house the books she was seeking, Alex was disappointed to find that the computer had been correct, and the books in question were indeed checked out—and, if the computer was to be believed, had been for at least two months. Sighing to herself, Alex flagged down a librarian and asked about the missing books.
The reply she got was more than a little strange.
"Those books were checked out one week ago by a young woman going by the name of 'Ashley Kaughtum'. They're not due for another month," the librarian primly stated. "Sorry. We can add you to the wait list, if you'd like."
"No thanks." Alex frowned. "The computer said the books were overdue."
The librarian blinked. "It must be an error. I remember the day well; the sun was shining, the Chatot were singing, and Ashley Kaughtum checked out eleven books on extended loan. For research." The book worker smiled condescendingly. "One week ago." A clipboard suddenly appeared in the librarian's hand. "I'll have to correct the records later."
Alex carefully kept her face blank at the information. The sky couldn't have been clear one week ago; a monsoon had been rolling through Canalave at that time. She remembered because she had to delay her departure from Jubilife until it had passed. Also, Alex hadn't seen any Chatot in the area during her stay, though she supposed they could have migrated.
But what reason would the librarian have for lying? Maybe the books were in bad condition… No, then they wouldn't list them—or, at least, there would have been a less complicated lie in place.
"If you have urgent need of the books, we could try to contact Ashley for you," the librarian unknowingly interrupted.
A red flag went up in the trainer's mind at that. "No, that's fine. It's just a passing interest—I can do without." She was probably just being paranoid, but there was always the chance that the little voice in the back of her mind screaming about conspiracies was actually right for once. And considering the last Pokémon on her line up, Alex couldn't afford to take any chances. This 'Ashley' character might be a setup to draw out any trainer that had managed to catch the legendary—that trainer being herself, she'd rather not risk springing a trap.
Alex offered the librarian a smile. "Thanks for your help, anyway—oh, you wouldn't happen to have any books on caring for Pokémon eggs, would you?"
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After spending the rest of the day at the library reading about Pokémon egg care (partially to throw any pursuers—imaginary or not—off her scent, partially because she was actually caring for two Pokémon eggs) and grabbing some dinner from a local diner, Alex headed back to the Pokémon Center to crash until morning.
She really should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
Upon entering the Center for the second time since the island, Alex was startled to find that there were actually trainers loitering in the lobby. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be surprised; it was the middle of league season, after all, and every single one of the nearly two dozen trainers present had the varying looks of confidence and apprehension that came before a gym battle.
Wary of the battle-lust in some of the trainers' eyes, Alex briskly made her way to the stairs that led to the upper level sleeping quarters, but was stopped before she could make it more than one step up.
"Where're you going so fast, girly?" a saucy voice called from behind her.
Taking a deep breath, Alex turned to address the speaker. Fair skinned with dark yellow hair and deep green eyes, the 17ish trainer might have been handsome if not for the smarmy expression and the arrogant way he lounged on the couch like he owned it. Seated next to him was a similarly aged female trainer with dull red hair and gray eyes that were in the process of rolling.
Decidedly uninterested, Alex replied with a curt, "Bed." Before she could follow through with her abrupt dismissal, however, the lounging male sat up eagerly.
"Ooh, sounds exciting. Can I join you?"
Alex opened her mouth to retort, but was beaten to the punch. Literally.
A resounding SMACK! echoed through the chattering lobby and left the lecherous trainer rubbing the back of his head where his companion had whacked the upside of.
"Sorry about Archer, he's been hit so many times in the head that he has to use his other one to think." A few chuckles went around the room at the redhead's apology, but the scene was otherwise ignored by everyone.
The dirty blond gave his companion a halfhearted glare. "And you've really been helping with that, Sissy."
'Sissy' gave 'Archer' a pat on the head. "Don't mind him; he's harmless."
Alex gave a dry laugh. "As long as he doesn't follow me home, we'll be good."
The male trainer looked indignant at that. "I'm not a Herdier!"
Sissy smiled indulgently. "Of course not, Arch," before Archer could do anything more than beam at the support, the female trainer continued, "you're a Lillipup."
Alex laughed openly at the male's tormented façade. The mirth died in her chest, however, when Sissy uttered that dreaded phrase.
"Hey, wanna battle?" At Alex's startled expression, Sissy persisted, "It's still kinda early for bed, don't you think?"
Fortunately, the reluctant legendary owner had an excuse. "Sorry, no; I kinda wanted to get up early tomorrow. And besides," she continued at the other trainer's frown, "my Pokémon are still recovering from their last battle."
Sissy cooed sympathetically. "Oh, I'm sorry."
Archer, on the other hand, just looked intrigued. "Did you challenge the gym?"
Upon hearing those words, half the room hushed and glanced furtively towards the three-way conversation.
Alex, wary of the sudden attention, half-turned back to the stairs, placing one foot on the next step. "Ah, no, Iron Island." Half of those interested went back to their own conversations. Unfortunately, the other half of the room perked up.
Ignoring Sissy's disapproving stare, Archer continued his questioning. "Ooh, what'd you fight? Was it a Steelix?"
Not remotely. "Nothing that exotic, I'm afraid." Not wanting to draw any more attention, Alex decided to go with the safe bet. "Just a bunch of Golbat. They wouldn't let me flee, so I ended up having to fight my way back out."
A chorus of sympathetic groans swept through the room as Archer sighed. "Golbat suck."
"Hey!" shouted a younger trainer who was affectionately patting a Crobat on the seat next to him.
While every eye in the room turned to glare at the Crobat trainer, Alex took advantage of the distraction to flee up to her rented room.
She only had time to collapse onto her bed when a knock came to the door. Groaning, Alex hoisted herself back into a sitting position and called out a tired, "Come in."
To her surprise, Nurse Joy slipped into the room, locked the door, and walked over to her, hands on her hips.
Alex blinked. "May I… help you?"
Joy looked unimpressed. "You caught it."
Oh.
That.
"Shouldn't you be downstairs?" Alex stalled.
"My sister's covering for me." The nurse said nothing else.
Finally, Alex sighed. "Yes, I caught it." The trainer paused. "How did you know?"
Joy smiled faintly, taking a seat on the bed a respectful distance away. "It wasn't too hard to put together; I've been cleaning up after Darkrai for years now, I recognize its style. Beyond that, your injury was telling. The only Pokémon on Iron Island that could make marks like that would be Sableye, and they're much too small to account for the spacing of the scratches."
"But how did you know that I caught it?" Alex pressed.
"Because you lied," the nurse retorted, "no self-respecting trainer would lie about fighting a legendary Pokémon, even if they lost." Joy took pity on Alex's quietly mounting panic. "Also, Professor Rowan sent you a message titled 'New Pokémon'. That helped, but I didn't connect the two until this morning."
Alex blinked as she realized that Professor Rowan was the one to sell her out. Not intentionally, but still. Load up the Tepig, time to fly to Hoenn.
"And," the nurse continued, "because you traded out your Mightyena, I imagine that you have Darkrai on you right now." Alex nodded, hesitant. "I'd like to examine it."
"I'm, umm, I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"The door is locked—only my sister and I have the key, and she's going to be busy for a while still—and the walls are sound proofed pretty well; a lot of trainers are paranoid when it comes to discussing strategy with their team, so we make an effort to keep private conversations private." Nurse Joy sighed at Alex's still wary face. "You'll need to have it examined by a professional at some point, and you're talking to quite possibly the only healer to have ever examined a Darkrai before."
Reluctantly, Alex caved, reaching for the Moon Ball at the end of her line up. She paused before letting the legendary out, though. "I'd think you'd already know this, but I need to make sure; you mustn't tell anyone of this—not even the people you trust, in case someone overhears."
Nurse Joy nodded, then raised her right hand, face solemn. "I swear on my oath as a medical professional that I won't tell a single soul about this." She paused, frowned, then tacked on, "Unless circumstances are extremely dire, and the Pokémon in question is in danger."
Alex nodded in return, satisfied with the promise. Pressing a button on the Moon Ball, the trainer released her Pokémon.
Form solidifying in the middle of the small room, the inky black Pokémon opened its cyan eyes and studied the two women sitting on the bed with a critical stare.
"Um, hi," Alex began awkwardly, "I'm your trainer… You probably guessed that."
Darkrai looked distinctly unimpressed.
Fortunately, Joy was unperturbed by the legendary. With a kind smile, the nurse broke the ice. "It's good to finally meet you; I've been cleaning up your messes for almost three years now."
At Darkrai's narrowed eyes, Alex explained, "Nurse Joy is a… healer. Of Pokémon." The dark type gave its trainer a skeptical glance. "She would like to examine you—to make sure nothing's wrong," Alex added hastily when Darkrai tensed.
Joy gave the Pokémon her warmest smile. "It won't hurt, but there will be a bit of poking and prodding. I may ask you to do things like move your arm or take a breath, is that okay?"
Darkrai glanced to Alex. Surprised—and somewhat flattered—Alex nodded in encouragement. Slowly, begrudgingly, the legendary nodded to the nurse, and immediately flinched when Joy fished around in her pocket and pulled out a penlight.
"It's okay," the nurse soothed, "I just need to look at your eyes."
The rest of the examination went like that, with the skittish Pokémon recoiling every time Nurse Joy touched it or pulled out a new tool. Still, Darkrai seemed to be slowly relaxing and getting used to the attention. Until Joy stepped behind it and crouched down to check under its tail.
The Pokémon's entire body went rigid as the nurse slipped out of its line of sight, flowing tatters on its shoulders freezing as the air grew thick and a low rumbling sound rose from the dark type's chest. Without stopping to consider what she was doing, Alex reached out and placed a hand on Darkrai's bright red collar. The legendary whirled to face her, tatters whipping about in an invisible gale, one hand snapping up to snare her wrist while the other raised into the air threateningly.
Biting back a yelp at the crushing grip on her injured arm, Alex forced herself to relax and speak softly. "It's okay, nothing's going to hurt you." Looking deep into the Pokémon's unfocused eyes, she continued, "You're here, alright? I won't let anything hurt you." Darkrai's gaze snapped to hers, and the tension slowly seeped from its form. The growling died down while the air turned breathable again, and the raised claws lowered.
Nurse Joy appeared again to the side of the Pokémon, looking extremely chagrined. "I'm sorry, Darkrai, I didn't mean to upset you—I wasn't thinking." The legendary ignored her in favor of Alex. The nurse glanced between the two and fell silent. Once again, Darkrai had fixed Alex with a stare that contained such open curiosity that it was starting to make her blush.
Shifting uncomfortably, Alex tapped one of her trapped fingers against the Pokémon's collar, which seemed to break it from whatever trance it had fallen into. This time, Alex couldn't hide the wince as the Pokémon reflexively squeezed her wrist. "Ah, um, do you think you could let my arm go? It's starting to hurt."
Darkrai's eyes narrowed as it glanced down to where it still held her wrist in its talons, keeping her hand pressed against its collar. While it did loosen its grip, the Pokémon didn't let go; instead, to Alex's shock, the legendary leaned forward and delicately sniffed at the bandages that bound her wound. Then, quite abruptly, it released her arm and retreated to a corner of the room, half sinking into the shadows to watch her warily.
After a moment, Nurse Joy turned to Alex and cleared her throat. "Well, it's in perfect health—which is rather remarkable, considering." The trainer reluctantly shifted her focus to the nurse. "It has a few scars under its fur, but nothing that was ever life threatening." Joy looked nervously between the Pokémon and its trainer. "Well, I'll leave you two alone, then." She turned and walked to the door, then paused, glancing over her shoulder. "Good luck on your journey." Darkrai hid itself further in the shadows as Joy exited the room, closing the door and locking it behind her with her key.
"Well," Alex began, turning her attention to the pool of darkness on the ground next to the dresser, "that happened." There was a distinct lack of response from the shadows. Alex frowned, trying a different tactic. "Are you okay? You seem a bit freaked out." A single cyan eye opened and gazed at her from the blackness. The trainer sighed. That's something, I guess. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her forehead and groaned. It had been a long day preceded by a long night. And she wanted to get up early in the morning to avoid any trainers going into or out of the city. First, though, she was going to have to corral Darkrai back into its ball for the night.
With another sigh, Alex reluctantly opened her eyes once more and nearly jumped out of her skin. While she wasn't watching, Darkrai had emerged from its shadowy camouflage and drawn nearer. Hovering almost close enough to touch, the dark type regarded her curiously.
"It's good to see you again." Alex murmured dryly. The joke seemed to fly completely over the Pokémon's head as it cocked said body part and blinked. "Okay, how about you return to your ball so we can both get some sleep?" No response. "The next time I let you out, you'll be meeting the team." She thought it was only fair to warn the Pokémon, considering its sometimes volatile nature.
"Dark."
Alex blinked in surprise as the dark type shifted its gaze to stare worriedly at the space between them. "It'll be fine, I promise." Darkrai's gaze flicked to her. "Well, they might be a bit… ornery at first, but they'll get over it." It just kept staring at her, unblinking. Alex slapped down the unease welling up in her chest. "I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Finally, finally, the Pokémon blinked. Alex unhooked the Moon Ball from her belt and aimed it at the legendary. "Return?" Another blink. Taking this as permission, the trainer pushed a button on the ball and watched Darkrai disappear into the beam of red light.
With trembling hands she no longer forced to be still for the sake of her Pokémon (which she was amazed to note now included Darkrai), she clipped the ball back onto her belt and collapsed onto the bed.
She was asleep before she could even remember to turn the lights off.
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End Chapter.
To my first reviewer who I said nearly threatened me with violence; I know you didn't mean it, but it made me laugh nonetheless.
To my reviewer who enjoyed the Tepig line; I'm glad you did—I do enjoy coming up with Poképuns, and I try to put them in when it makes sense to do so. And references. I love references—but again, only when they make sense in context. On tabs; meh, that's too much work.
Also, I'm just starting chapter nineteen now, and I love having a large buffer like that so I can go back and tweak a few things in the earlier chapters that get changed later—I'd have actually rather finished writing before I started posting, but there was a blue moon coming up and it was too fitting to not post the first chapter that day.
Next chapter, Darkrai meets the team out of battle, and high jinks are pulled.
Questions? Comments? …Concerns? Well, not even Darkrai can read your mind (as far as I know), so if there's something you want to say, make sure to post a review to let me know. I welcome constructive criticism.
P.S. Happy new moon~