In a Blue Moon

by Chatterchot

Everyone has demons. And no matter how fast you run, they will always catch up to you in the end. A trainer with no desire to battle accidentally catches one of the most powerful Pokémon in the world. How long can she keep it safe from those whose hearts are blacker than pitch? Rating for language and eventual theme. Slow building, lots of fluff, several sucker punches.

4. (But she wasn't alone,

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I do however own Alex, and this characterization of a member of the Darkrai species.

Also, Warning! This chapter contains unintentional lighthearted use of mind altering recreational substances. If that offends you, sorry.

…I regret nothing.

Chapter Four:
The 'Z' Team

-o-O~OOO~O-o-

"You coward."

"Why don't you find out?"

"You will understand, someday."

"Take care of her."

Darkrai blinked open its eyes as the red light faded, taking in the small forest clearing it had materialized in before turning to survey its company. Three Pokémon stood together next to Alex, who was still holding out the little black and blue ball that carried the legendary when it wasn't out.

Alex lowered the ball, hooking it back onto her belt, and gestured to the three Pokémon. "Okay, Darkrai, these are your new team mates," she pointed to a red and black upright violin shaped bug type, "That's Kricketune," the bug offered a nod, "she's been with me the longest." Next came a fiery pony, who bounced on its hooves as it was pointed out, "That's Ponyta, he's still young—be patient with him." The glowing colt squeaked out a 'Hi!' as Alex turned to the last Pokémon in the group; a corpulent blue and white striped cat with a long tail that split at the end. "And lastly, Purugly." The fat cat let out a belch like 'Sup.' "She's my newest—next to you—and she recently evolved from a Glameow." Alex addressed the three Pokémon. "Guys, this is Darkrai; it decided to join our group in place of Mightyena. You may remember." She paused. "I want you guys to make it feel welcome, okay?" With a terse smile, Alex backed off to let her Pokémon mingle.

Purugly was the first to brake the silence. "So, you joined our little group," the cat sauntered forth, tone accusatory. She glared up at the nightmare Pokémon, her shear presence more than making up for her lack of height. "Care to share?"

Darkrai, taken aback at the forwardness of the fat cat, glanced at the other two Pokémon and Alex. Kricketune's face was impassive, while Ponyta stood stock-still, eyes wide. And Alex… The trainer was glancing about the clearing, as if searching for something with which to physically restrain herself to keep from interfering.

Darkrai turned back to Purugly, wondering how much it should tell the demanding Pokémon. Taking a breath, the legendary began, "Mightyena—" and was quickly cut off by a riot of laughter, tension vanishing abruptly as the fat cat howled with mirth.

"See? Whadid I say? What did I say?" crowed Purugly.

"Tata, nyta! Pury, you really called it this time!" giggled Ponyta, colt Pokémon prancing in place.

Even the stoic Kricketune gave a few chuckles before quieting down.

Confused and more than a little annoyed, Darkrai glared at the Pokémon questioningly until one of them deigned to explain.

Surprisingly, Kricketune was the one to speak up. "Back when Purugly was a Glameow, she commented on how she thought that Mightyena could convince a mythic to accept a trainer through the sheer force of his charisma." The bug type paused. "This was after he talked down a pack of wild Houndoom from attacking our trainer, who was sleeping in the middle of their territory."

If Darkrai hadn't been impressed with the old hyena Pokémon before, it was now. The legendary knew from personal experience the doggedness of a Houndoom pack when defending their land.

"Yeah!" Ponyta broke in, bouncing up and down on all four legs, "The pack leader was all like; Grr! Get out of our territory! And Mightyena was like; Our trainer is exceptionally powerful—why else would she be sleeping so soundly in the middle of a dark forest? And—and the Houndoom was like—like—" the colt broke off into a high-pitched whinny, bucking and flailing about.

"Ponyta." Alex warned from the shade of a tall oak tree where she had retreated to.

"Sorry!" the fire colt called, then, straining visibly, came to a stop and closed his eyes. "One… Two…"

Purugly turned back to Darkrai, leaving Ponyta to his counting. "Don't mind him; kid's made of sugar." The cat folded her legs under her and laid down on the grass. Darkrai politely reciprocated the gesture and settled onto the ground, blades of grass tickling its soft underside. It wasn't the most comfortable position for the legendary, but it was one it had gotten used to.

"So, tell me," Purugly began, "how did good ol' Mighty talk a mythic into a ball?"

OO / OO OO OO OO
OO / OO OO OO OO
OO / OO OO OO OO

Alex looked up from her notebook to watch her team grooming themselves. It was always fascinating to see how different Pokémon took care of their personal hygiene—whether they had scales, fur, skin, or something else entirely, almost every single Pokémon she had ever come across had some manner of grooming ritual. Including, though it sat apart from the others when it did so, Darkrai.

It had been a few days of travel since she had first introduced Darkrai to the group, and Alex had kept a written account of the various behaviors that the legendary displayed. Though it looked humanoid, the dark type acted like most other Pokémon; it groomed itself; it slept (sometimes); and it ate normal food (sort of).

Although it didn't seem to need to eat, it still chose to on occasion, accepting berries (Peacha, for the most part), the occasional Poffin (whenever Alex dug the case out of her pack, her entire team would come to attention—even (though it did so with the same calm indifference as Kricketune) Darkrai, who, just like with the berries, seemed to enjoy the sweeter flavors), and sometimes even tolerated gifts of scraps another team mate would beg from Alex's own meals.

Darkrai also slept, though it seemed to do so for considerably less time than the others did; the legendary would still be awake when Alex zipped up her tent and drifted off, yet would also be up in the morning to greet her. She only knew for sure that it slept because she would once in a while catch the Pokémon napping while she set up camp.

As for nightmares, Alex was seriously starting to doubt the legends that described the Pitch Black Pokémon as 'The King of Nightmares'. Then again, there were also tales that connected Darkrai's nightmare aura to the phases of the moon, and said celestial object was only about to reach first quarter. If it did become an issue though, Alex supposed she would have to keep Darkrai in its ball at night. If that didn't work… Well, Tobias had used his Darkrai to beat every gym in the region and most of the league, and that had to have taken more than four weeks, right? If he could find a way to counter or endure his Darkrai's aura, then Alex could do the same. She just hoped it didn't have to do with some hard-to-find-even-harder-to-obtain herbal concoction.

Also, if Darkrai caused nightmares while in its ball, then Alex wouldn't be able to linger in Jubilife for too long. In truth, all she wanted to do in that city was restock and head south to Sandgem. She wondered what new assignment Professor Rowan would have for her—or maybe he just wanted her to hang around the lab for a few days so he could study Darkrai with her. At the same time, it humbled and annoyed her that Rowan had insisted on having Darkrai travel with her; she was only a junior researcher (and probably would only ever be—her interests were just too widespread to concentrate on any one subject), and placing a Pokémon that was not just extremely powerful, but also exclusively rare, in her possession was a major vote of confidence in her abilities.

Then again, she did catch it—and maybe a lab filled with delicate equipment wasn't the best environment for a legendary who could, as she had seen it demonstrate a few times already; walk through walls; disappear; fly; and was insanely curious about the world around it. Darkrai would often watch her closely whenever she did something that involved her hands—which prompted her to explain what she was doing, why she was doing it, why she was doing it there, why now, etcetera, etcetera.

Alex glanced up at the dark type again and watched it groom itself for a few minutes. Darkrai would use its taloned hands to methodically search through its pelt for burrs or the beginnings of mats and delicately pluck at them before smoothing the fur back down. It never failed to amaze her how the legendary could reach any part of its body with those claws, even contorting itself to comb through the long flowing fur on its shoulders, head, and tail. Then there was the skirt. Alex wished she could come up with a better name for the long, stiff fur that guarded the Pokémon's underside, but that's what it looked like, and that's what it acted as.

The trainer watched Darkrai meticulously split the fur on its lower half and realign it. Like a bird preening its feathers, she thought. The function of the skirt was similar for the Pokémon as it would be for a human; it protected the legs. Alex hadn't seen the legendary's stilt-like legs more than a few times (it only seemed to let them down briefly to stabilize itself in winds or when making an abrupt stop), leading her to believe that the appendages were one of the more vulnerable parts of its body. In fact, Alex would bet that Darkrai's entire underside was sensitive; the Pokémon guarded its belly ferociously—it would even sometimes snap at the others it they came too close to walking under it.

Alex frowned at the thought. Although Darkrai no longer showed any fear or apprehension in the presence of the others, the two groups were just that; two groups. Though the legendary was starting to relax more around Alex, it would still close itself off when any of the others made themselves known, and interactions between the two 'factions' were cautious at best, awkward at worst. The trainer would often see her team of three extend the olive branch to the dark type, but Darkrai seemed hesitant to take it. She could only imagine the life it had lived to cause such reservation in interacting with others.

At least it was okay with her presence, Alex thought, closing her notebook with a heavy thunk as her team finished with their morning routine. The Pokémon always seemed to move closer to her than the others when they were traveling through the wilds, and was far more expressive when it was just the two of them. If the situation didn't resolve itself by the time they made it to Professor Rowan's lab, Alex would step in and do… something about it.

Sighing, Alex stood and packed the remaining camping gear back into their item cubes and into her bag. "Okay guys," she began as her team came to attention, "let's move out. We've got a lot of ground to cover today—I'd like to be in Jubilife by Thursday, that's tomorrow, and out before the weekend hits. And to do that, we'll need to catch the ferry by noon—so no lollygagging, okay?"

OO OO OO OO OO / OO OO OO / OO OO OO OO OO
OO OO OO OO OO / OO OO OO / OO OO OO OO OO
OO OO OO OO OO / OO OO OO / OO OO OO OO OO

It was later that day, once they had stopped for the night again after disembarking from the ferry, that Purugly approached Darkrai with the herb.

"What's this?" Curious, the legendary took the leafy stalk from the tiger cat's prehensile tail to examine it. The plant had alternating shoots along a thick stem that unfurled into large felt-like leaves that looked most like cats' tongues. The bottom of the plant was still covered in dirt and roots, obviously dug out of the ground instead of cut. Putting the herb up to its face, Darkrai noted the plant's faint, but sharp, scent.

"A very special herb," Purugly answered, waiting for the dark type to finish with its inspection, "The stalk is hollow, and it has something really interesting inside." At Darkrai's questioning glance, the fat cat elaborated, "It's really small, and it happens fast, so you need to watch carefully when you break it open."

Interest truly piqued now, Darkrai held the herb upside down and delicately used the sharp tip of one of its talons to slice off the bottom portion of the plant, then leaned over it to more clearly observe whatever phenomena Purugly was talking about.

And promptly got smacked in the face by the intense aroma wafting from the hollow stalk.

Darkrai yanked the pungent herb away from its burning nose and snorted reflexively, glaring at the suddenly smug Purugly.

"Did 'ja see it?" the fat cat dared to ask.

The nightmare Pokémon decided not to speak, instead settling on a death glare that did absolutely nothing to wipe the Cheshire grin off Purugly's flat face.

"Welcome to the team," she stated grandiosely before turning and waddling over to where the other two Pokémon were trying (and failing) to look uninterested in the prank.

Darkrai continued to glare in their general direction for a few minutes before turning away with a huff. To its surprise, the legendary noticed that it still clutched the traitorous plant in one claw. After a moment of deliberation, Darkrai held the herb up to its nose and sniffed it again. And again. And again, trying to place the strange smell.

Darkrai was too distracted by the plant to notice the trio exchanging evil grins.

-o-O~OOO~O-o-

It is a common misconception that dark type Pokémon are naturally cold to the touch. In fact, most dark types (barring dual ice types, of course) have a somewhat higher than average internal body temperature. Many dark types are nocturnal, and as such have thick fur or blubber of some sort in order to keep out the chill of the night.

Sitting on a log near the portable fire pit she had set up for the night, Alex sighed and snapped her notebook closed. The sky had just gotten a little too dark to properly illuminate her writing, but the trainer wasn't quite ready for bed yet. It may have only been three and a half days since she last saw Mightyena, but she still felt his absence keenly. While the average person might be happy to be rid of the presence of a dark type at night, Alex had spent a great deal of her childhood in the company of them, and found their normally unsettling aura comforting.

Only the most closed off person could possibly mistake the touch of a dark Pokémon for any other—the sensation of your life force being drawn out through your skin is quite unique—the next closest thing would be the touch of a psychic type—which feels almost like a metaphysical breeze coiling around you—or a ghost type—which comes across as an alarming sense that a foreign presence is trying to make a nest inside your soul.

Alex leaned back and stretched, gazing up at the less-than-a-quarter moon with her arms folded behind her head. I wonder what Mighty's doing right now. She grinned, imagining the irritated stare of her oldest friend. Stop bothering me, I'm trying to sleep! is what she knew he'd be saying to her if he were here.

Suddenly, Alex felt the brush of a dark type on her arm. For one heart stopping moment, she thought it was Mightyena. Then reality came crashing back as she jerked her to the side and found a glowing cyan eye regarding her curiously from about two inches away.

"Oh, hi there," Alex said, sitting back up and turning to address the Pokémon, "What's up?"

Darkrai tilted its head to the side and asked, "Dar, krai?"

What are you doing? Alex translated. That was a phrase she heard a lot. "Oh, I was just stretching," she demonstrated, arcing her back, "Feels good after a long day."

The Pokémon simply tilted its head to the other side and waited.

Right question, wrong answer. Alex sighed, turning back to look at the moon, "I was thinking about Mighty—I wonder how he's doing now that he doesn't have to walk all day. Is he still getting exercise? Is he even able to sleep? Maybe he's driving Professor Rowan up the wall as we speak." The trainer grinned at the mental image for a moment before becoming wistful. "Does he even miss me?"

Quite abruptly, Alex found herself being pressed into the legendary hovering behind her by a pair of spindly arms wrapped around her waist. The trainer blushed as Darkrai leaned into her and began nuzzling the back of her head while mumbling softly in its disyllabic language.

"Umm, thanks…" Alex awkwardly accepted the (oddly enthusiastic) hug from the nightmare Pokémon. After a few moments of letting the bizarre soul-sucking sensation of the powerful dark type wash over her, Alex pulled away. Or at least, she tried to.

Darkrai paused in its muttering to let out a soft growl, tugging her back against its chest with one arm while the other journeyed upward to claw at her hair. It's grooming me, Alex realized, a bit dazed, I'm being groomed by a legendary Pokémon. Why?

Over the constant murmuring of the dark type, Alex heard a soft whicker. Casting a glance over her shoulder (the one that wasn't being fussed with), the trainer spied her three other Pokémon in time to see them glance away. All at once.

Oh no, they didn't.

Twisting in Darkrai's embrace, Alex looked closely at the legendary's eyes at it tried—and failed—to focus on her.

Oh yes, they did.

"Hey, Darkrai, have you smelled any sort of strange plant lately?" Alex asked softly.

The legendary looked puzzled by her question, but nodded anyway, still diligently brushing her hair.

"Did one of the others give you this plant?"

Darkrai nodded again, eyes narrowing.

"Are you feeling like yourself right now?"

The dark type cocked its head. "Dark?"

What? Alex translated. "Like you have to urge to do things you wouldn't normally do, or maybe you're feeling a bit dizzy or lightheaded?" Or high?

Darkrai blinked, halting its ministrations for a moment before continuing with a nod.

Alex waited.

The legendary returned her stare in confusion.

Gees, just how much of that stuff did it have? She decided to give the poor Pokémon a hint. "Do you think these three things might be connected?"

Darkrai paused again, clearly turning things over in its head. Then, to Alex's astonishment, it nodded, shrugged, and prodded her to turn back around so it could finish grooming her. Stunned, Alex did nothing to resist as the legendary turned her back to face the fire pit and switched arms so it could reach the other side of her head.

It must still be under the effects of the Pokénip, the trainer guessed. I wonder how long it'll take to wear off. Pokénip highs typically only lasted for a few minutes, but there was no telling how much the legendary had inhaled, or when the last dose was. It didn't seem to be bothered that its team mates tricked it into taking a mind altering drug—either that or it didn't notice—so Alex decided to just let the drug run its course.

Then she wondered what Darkrai was going to do once it ran out of hair to comb. Her mind flashed to one of the few times she had seen the dark type's tongue—when the Pokémon had felt it necessary to wash the only furless part of its body by licking the back of a talon and swiping it across its bright red collar. Like a cat.

Alex really hoped the Pokénip would wear off before things got to that point.

Darkrai continued its grooming over the course of the next three minutes, running its talons through her hair and gently plucking at knots until they gave, and, despite the awkwardness of the situation, Alex found herself slowly drifting off to the legendary's meticulous attentions.

Then it stopped.

Alex, roused by the sudden prospect of getting a bath after all, looked over her shoulder at Darkrai. The legendary had frozen with its tiny pink tongue halfway out of its mouth, eyes wide. Then, those eyes narrowed. And flashed. Literally.

Then, something very strange happened.

Darkrai's face blanked, and it carefully disengaged itself from Alex, backing away a few feet to hover limply at the edge of the fire light. Slowly, so slowly, it rotated to face the still-as-statues trio that had previously been trying to maintain some form of nonchalance.

There was a pregnant pause.

…

Darkrai plunged into the shadows and shot forward, moving at the same blinding pace it had displayed when they first met, and sprang from the ground a few inches from Purugly's face, tatters and hair whipping in a sudden gust of ominous wind as the Nightmare King towered over the cat and raised a claw to strike.

Purugly crumpled to the ground as Ponyta, Kricketune, and Alex stared in shock.

The wind died down and Darkrai folded its arms in front of its chest. "Dark, rai rai, Darkrai, krai."

Then Ponyta fell over, convulsing…

…With laughter? Alex blinked, taking a second look at Purugly. The tiger cat was fast asleep, a long stream of drool pooling at the corner of her mouth to signify her continuing life.

Giving a final nod to the trio, Darkrai turned back to Alex and winced, looking sheepish. The legendary floated back to her cautiously, as if it were afraid that she would yell at it. Alex spared a glance back to Purugly—who was still asleep and getting prodded by a giggling Ponyta while Kricketune watched—and sighed, letting the tension seep out of her form.

As the large dark type settled on the log a little away from her, eyeing her warily, Alex spoke. "Are you okay?"

Darkrai seemed surprised by her question, but nodded slowly. Then it tilted its head to the side, asking her the same.

Alex let out another sigh. "I'm fine, you just… startled me." She didn't want to admit that she'd had a flashback to that night when Darkrai had clawed her arm open with eyes blazing in hatred… Had that really happened just four nights ago? Alex's hand unconsciously went to her bandaged arm. Though the wounds had mostly healed, the area was still tender—and she wasn't sure she wanted any of her team to see what her newest Pokémon had done to her—so every night, she changed the bandages in the privacy of her tent.

Unfortunately, the motion drew Darkrai's attention. It raised a claw to ghost over the hidden scars, then flinched back, guilt flashing over its features.

Alex glanced to her other Pokémon again. All three of them seemed to be settling down for the night (well, two were settling down, Purugly was still sleeping off the Hypnosis), so she turned back to Darkrai and whispered, "It's fine—I've had worse."

The Pokémon still looked morose. "Krai krai, Darkrai."

Alex offered it a half smile. "Well, apology accepted."

Darkrai glanced at her in surprise, but said nothing.

The pair turned to watch the fire in silence. After a few moments though, Alex spoke up. "It's kinda become tradition to haze the newbie by tricking them into taking Pokénip."

Darkrai looked over at her. "Krai?"

Alex nodded, not looking away from the fire. "The newest Pokémon on the team gets hazed by the last Pokémon to join the team." The trainer grinned. "It took Ponyta five minutes to trick Purugly—she was a Glameow then—into helping him 'identify the strange flower'. At least, that's what I assumed happened—after I got Glameow to calm down and stop climbing me, I found a broken Pokénip stalk embedded in a flower bush. The flowers must have hidden the scent, because she recognized the plant when I pulled it out. Oh, she was so mad."

Alex giggled silently at the memory. Her breath caught in her throat a moment later, however, when she heard Darkrai laughing. Indeed, the legendary was chortling quietly, repeating the last syllable of its name and shaking in mirth.

Encouraged, the trainer continued, "And of course, Ponyta was hazed by Luxray—though he was a Luxio at the time—you haven't met him yet; he left the team in Oreburgh where he found his calling in finding lost children. It's rather fitting, actually—he joined the team when Mightyena, Kricketune, and I helped him find his lost pride. Heh, it's kinda funny—I'm pretty sure ninety percent of why Glameow joined the team was large, male, and shot lightning out of his fur. She didn't stay with him in Oreburgh, though—but they did have a very tearful goodbye…"

Alex continued to ramble through the night as Darkrai listened in rapt attention, occasionally prodding her with a question or comment before falling silent again.

The trainer paused midsentence when she felt the dark type lean on her. Meeting her gaze with its own, Darkrai asked without words if this was alright. After a moment, Alex answered with a smile, and continued her story.

It was only after she woke up the next morning in her tent that Alex realized she had fallen asleep with her head on the nightmare king's fluffy shoulder, with a fast-fading memory of a dream where Darkrai was holding her again, wrapping her in its warm fur and scaring away the night.

-o-O~OOO~O-o-

End chapter.

I'd like to thank my first reviewer for pointing out a grammatical issue regarding dialog—I've gone back and fixed these four chapters as I can, and am now looking forward (not really) to combing through the other seventeen chapters I've written for similar errors. Honestly though, thank you.
And yes, that's what those are.

As for the eventually theme, let's just say that after writing chapter twenty, I'm debating on rather or not to bump the rating up to 'M' for reasons not pertaining to sex. If I may be permitted to write something rather pretentious, I will say this;
The gray haze of now will separate later into the dark and light, but never the black and white, for such things are rarely clear—even for those who can see through the night.

Also, ffnet keeps changing the cover image of this story back to my profile pic randomly (for me, at least). Does anyone know how to get it to stop doing that?
And, ffnet also keeps deleting the extra spaces I've put in the scene breaks, necessitating me going back and separating them with a slash. I'm not sure there's a way to get that to stop, but if anyone knows...

Questions? Comments? …Concerns? Well, not even Darkrai can read your mind (I think), so if there's something you want to say, make sure to post a review to let me know. I welcome constructive criticism.

Addendum: Because it seems to be bothering a great many people, I'll say it right here-Darkrai and Alex are not going to be having sex. If they were, the category would have been romance, not family.