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

Chapter Six:
Hatchling

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It started off as a normal day. Alex let them out as soon as she left the city limits, and they traveled for a few hours before stopping for lunch. They had lunch. That was normal, too. Alex began packing up the furniture, same as usual, but then stopped.

That wasn't normal.

"Alex?" Darkrai asked as it noticed its trainer's stunned expression. Alex paid no mind to the confused legendary, fumbling at her side and plucking a yellowish Poké Ball with light green splotches on it that Darkrai had never seen her use before from her belt. The trainer opened the device, sending a beam of red light spilling onto the ground that solidified into a strangely round bright white light. The light faded, revealing… a stone? Darkrai wasn't sure, but the object looked most like a solid black oval with a red band across the bottom. The dark type felt a strange, yet familiar pull coming from the object—one it couldn't quite place.

The other Pokémon saw the commotion and began crowding around the rock, murmuring excitedly while Alex crouched down next to it. The trainer noticed the legendary hovering nearby and scooted over to let it in the circle around the strange object. Fascinated, Darkrai settled in the empty spot and watched the stone with the group. There was a long silence where nobody said anything. Darkrai was about to ask what was going on, but then…

Then it moved.

Darkrai shot backwards reflexively as the object suddenly rocked towards it. What the hell? The legendary peaked up from the shadow of a nearby tree as the other Pokémon—and Alex, the traitor—burst out laughing. Was this another prank? None of the others seemed to be concerned about the moving rock, so Darkrai assumed it was safe and made its way back to the circle.

After collecting herself, Alex explained, "It's an egg."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Darkrai retorted dryly.

Surprisingly, Ponyta was the one to clarify. "It means there's a baby Pokémon inside."

Confused, Darkrai questioned further. "Why? Did someone put it there?"

Purugly gave the legendary a look that it was coming to understand meant; 'I can't believe you're this naïve'.

"I've never thought about it before," Ponyta hummed thoughtfully, "I guess someone must have, at some point."

Purugly and Kricketune exchanged looks for a moment before the tiger cat sighed, "I'll do it," and gestured to the still rocking 'egg', "after."

The group's attention refocused on the egg as it began emitting a crackling sound. Suddenly, a little glowing beak punched through the shell and withdrew. The glow faded from inside the egg, and the beak, yellow now, reemerged and started nibbling at the hole it had made. Alex leaned back and rustled through her bag as the Pokémon watched the hole widen in fascination.

"You can help it out, if you'd like," Alex said to Darkrai, rejoining the group with a towel in hand, "You're the only one dexterous enough, and I have to be ready to catch it in case it runs."

Darkrai wasn't entirely sure it wanted to stick its claws into the hole, but if Alex was asking, it couldn't be too dangerous… right? The legendary cautiously plucked at the edge of the hole with the tip of a talon, careful not to touch whatever creature lurked inside. Darkrai yanked its claw back when a muffled peep sounded from the egg, and a tiny head followed its retreating hand through the hole.

Crimson eyes veiled beneath a crown of black feathers locked onto Darkrai's as the little bird opened its crooked yellow beak and squawked, "Boss!"

Everyone in the circle turned to stare at the legendary in surprise as the egg rocked back and forth and broke open, spilling out a tiny form covered in gooey shell fragments. Alex took advantage of the creature's dizziness and snatched it up in the towel, carefully wiping it off as it struggled and flapped its wings in a bid to be free of its new, softer, prison.

"It's a Murkrow," Alex grinned, setting the tiny bird down. The Pokémon in question turned and gave the trainer a withering glare for a moment before swinging its head back to face Darkrai. It took a shaky step forward and stumbled, then picked itself up with its beak and took another step.

Unsettled, Darkrai backed up.

Wings open for balance, the bird continued to wobble towards the legendary.

Fully disconcerted now, Darkrai hovered a few feet off the ground and retreated backwards, not taking its eyes off the strange creature that came out of a rock.

Murkrow paused, looking up at its fellow dark type. "Boss!" Then it started flapping its wings and running.

Darkrai turned and fled in alarm, diving into the nearest shadow large enough to hide it—which just so happened to be Ponyta's.

"Boss?" The tiny bird folded its wings and stared at the patch of ground where the legendary had disappeared.

Panicked as it was, it took a moment for Darkrai to realize that the other Pokémon—and Alex—were laughing too hard to speak up and diffuse the situation.

Annoyed, Darkrai popped its head out of a different shadow just long enough to ask, "What does it want from me?" before diving back down as the bird turned around.

Murkrow ran over to the spot where the legendary had emerged briefly and stared intensely at the ground. "Boss?"

Alex, who was about to answer, burst into a new fit of giggles as she watched the bizarre game of cat and mouse. "Oh gods!" she gasped, "I wish I had a camera—why can't I have a camera when I need one?"

"Alex—" Darkrai whined, popping up next to her, "help."

Fortunately, the trainer took pity on the legendary, leaning over and scooping the fluffy pest into her arms. "It won't hurt you—it thinks you're its mother."

Darkrai eyed the bird warily. "I really don't understand what that means."

Purugly opened her mouth to explain, but all that came out were deep guffaws.

Before anyone else could jump in, however, Alex held the struggling bird out to Darkrai. "Here, hold it. Gently." The legendary gave her a look that told her exactly what it thought about that idea. Alex laughed, "It won't bite—ow!" The trainer retracted that statement as the Murkrow began pecking at her hands, "I mean, it won't bite you."

To spare its trainer the wrath of the little bird, Darkrai consented, carefully taking the new Pokémon in its talons. The tiny thing instantly quieted down as it felt the touch of the dark type, and raised its head to stare into the legendary's eyes. Darkrai felt something uncoil inside itself as it watched the tiny bird watching it back. Maybe the creature wasn't so bad after—

"Feed me!" Murkrow squawked, holding its beak open.

Darkrai looked to Alex for help.

The trainer leaned back and dug around in her bag again, withdrawing an item cube. "Good thing I picked up several types of baby food at the lab—I had no idea what was going to hatch, so I just got a few days' supply of everything." Alex clicked through the options on the little red cube and summoned a jar filled with some kind of light brown paste. Unscrewing the top, the trainer stuck a finger into the goop and swirled it about, gathering up a good amount before removing her hand from the jar and shoving her goo-coated digit near the little Pokémon's face.

Murkrow looked affronted by the gesture. "You're not Boss!"

Alex sighed, pulling her finger back and wiping it on the towel. "I think it wants you to feed it."

Darkrai stared at its trainer, horrified.

"It chose you," Alex shrugged, holding up the jar, "You're just going to have to deal with it."

Suppressing a shudder, Darkrai shifted the fussy little bird to one arm and scooped some of the baby food out with a claw, offering it to Murkrow. The larger dark type barely restrained itself from yanking its hand away as the little bird's head shot forward and impaled itself on the legendary's talon, shoving the proffered digit into its mouth and sucking the food down its throat.

Murkrow pulled its head away and looked back up at the legendary as if anything about what it had just done was normal. "More!"

"Well that's a relief," Alex sighed as Darkrai reluctantly continued to feed the fluff ball.

Darkrai gave its trainer a halfhearted glare. "How so?"

Alex was spared from having to interpret that statement by an honest-to-gods squeal from Purugly. "Oh Arceus, it's so cute!" The trio of unhelpful traitors crowded around the two dark types in captivation.

Ponyta was next to comment. "It's so… squishy."

Kricketune replied flatly, "It's a baby."

Maybe now that everyone had calmed down, Darkrai could finally get some answers. "What's a baby?"

Kricketune, normally helpful, replied with an apparent non-sequitur; "A newly born." Darkrai simply glared until the bug type elaborated, "A person or Pokémon that has just begun its life."

Oh. "So this creature is…" Darkrai trailed off, seeing the little bird in a new light.

Purugly picked up, "…about five minutes old, yeah."

Murkrow noticed the legendary staring at it and squawked, "Boss!" before turning its attention back to feeding.

Darkrai frowned, "Why does it keep calling me that?"

"It thinks you are its mother." Kricketune was again strangely unhelpful.

Sighing, Darkrai patiently spelled out the problem. "I don't understand what that term means."

Both Kricketune and Purugly stared in stunned silence as they seemingly tried to figure out how to explain something basic that Darkrai had no knowledge of. It was a situation that was cropping up more and more often now that the legendary was letting its guard down around them.

Surprisingly, Ponyta was the one to explain. "A mother is someone who feeds you when you're hungry, and comforts you when you're sad, cleans you up when you're all muddy from playing in the rain, and finds you when you run away. A mother keeps you warm when you're cold, takes care of you when you're ill, and teaches you how to not be scared of the world when the world is so big and scary."

Darkrai blinked. "Like Alex?"

Kricketune and Purugly glanced at each other as Ponyta bounced up and down. "Exactly!"

The legendary looked down at the tiny life in its arms. "That sounds like a lot of work."

Purugly finally found her words. "Something tells me you'll have plenty of help." She nodded at Alex, who was watching her Pokémon interact with a tender expression.

Murkrow gave a startlingly wide yawn and looked around for a few seconds before settling its gaze on Darkrai's shoulder. The legendary held perfectly still as the baby Pokémon stretched its wings and climbed up the nightmare king's arm to nestle in the long fur at the top. Then it closed its eyes and promptly fell asleep.

Darkrai glanced to Alex. The trainer looked like she was about to melt. It was actually a bit concerning. Alex let her head fall backwards as she questioned the sky quietly, "Why don't I have a camera?"

The Pokémon snickered at their trainer's antics before falling quiet and basking in the moment.

It couldn't last too long, though—Darkrai had questions, and it wanted answers. "So," the legendary began, speaking softly so as not to disturb the sleeping bird, "why was it in an egg?"

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Ponyta looked vaguely ill as Purugly finished her explanation. "I think I liked it better when I thought a Pelipper delivered eggs to lonely couples."

Darkrai, however, was merely thoughtful. "It makes more sense than my theory."

Purugly frowned. "What was your theory?"

"Well," the legendary began, "Alex told me that she was given an egg by a boy in Oreburgh who found it in a mine, so I assumed they just grew from the ground like a plant."

"I like that story better," Ponyta murmured to the ground.

Darkrai hummed, "So, males and females…"

Ponyta gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. "Oh please don't start talking about it again!"

Kricketune took pity on the poor colt. "Ponyta, how about you go help Alex?" With all the commotion surrounding Murkrow's hatching, their trainer had decided not to travel anymore that day, opting instead to set up camp in the same clearing they had originally stopped for lunch in.

"Yeah, okay, I'll do that…" Ponyta trailed off as he turned and fled in the direction of Alex.

"Am I a male or a female, then?" Darkrai asked once Ponyta was out of earshot.

"Most mythics are neither," Purugly stated, "Lots of stories tell us that many mythics aren't born in the same way as most Pokémon. I could check you, if you want."

It took Darkrai a moment to figure out what Purugly meant. "No, that's fine. I'm fairly certain I don't have anything down there." Then the legendary frowned. "How was I born, then?" Darkrai withdrew into its memories, trying to recall its first experiences, and completely missed the looks of unease the other two Pokémon shared. "It was… dark, and there was a lot of shouting… Something hurt me and I fled." The Pitch Black Pokémon shuddered. "I don't know how I knew what to do, but I did. I flew away from there as fast as I could." Darkrai blinked, coming back to itself. "Aren't there legends about it?"

"There is one, but it is very morbid. Are you sure you want to know?" Kricketune asked solemnly.

The legendary glanced down at its claws and nodded. "I think I need to."

"Very well." Kricketune drew in a breath as Purugly looked away. "A very long time ago, in a distant land, there ruled a king. The king was a kind, just, and brave human who wanted nothing more than peace and prosperity for his people and Pokémon. But the king's sons were reckless. They warred with each other for trivial means, sparing no thought to the lives that suffered at their whim. To protect his subjects, the king was forced to send his sons away. It broke the king's heart, but he suffered his solitude for the sake of his kingdom. And the kingdom thrived. Homes were remade, families reunited, and lands healed.

"But all was not well for the king. Bitter grief and heavy melancholy gave way to pain and spite. In his madness, the king turned to an artifact from before time began and made a wish. No one knows what he wished for, only that the power consumed him, and the king fell into a fitful slumber from which none could awake him. Days and nights passed, and still the king slept. Until one night, on the black of the moon. His nightmare consumed him, and rose to the eves of the castle to bathe in the dim light of the stars.

"Wherever that nightmare went, others followed, and no one slept a dreamless sleep as the Nightmare King passed, but it always returned to its selfsame spot come morning. And forever then it guarded the wished upon stone that brought it to this world." Kricketune paused, gazing up at the slowly darkening sky. "It is said that Darkrai are born from the nightmares of humans who pass in their sleep, and that Darkrai cause nightmares wherever they go."

Darkrai looked from its claws to the tiny bird sleeping on its shoulder. "I was born from a nightmare?"

Kricketune dropped her gaze from the sky to watch the two dark types. "A great philosopher once told a friend of my mother's, 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' I hold the idea to be self-evident, though never have I experienced this sentiment so wholly as I do now." Kricketune blinked, staring evenly into Darkrai's eyes. "You are here now. Do what good you can with what time you have, and never regret whatever events brought you here."

Darkrai stayed silent as the Kricketune and Purugly quietly made their exit to where Alex and Ponyta had paused to watch their discussion in bemusement.

"What good I can…?" The legendary stared at its claws again as the little bird on its shoulder stirred.

"Boss?" Murkrow yawned.

The Nightmare King shifted its gaze to the smaller dark type. It brought a talon up and lightly stroked the bird's fragile head. "I'll take care of you," Darkrai promised, "No matter what comes."

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End chapter.

The myth that Kricketune tells is adapted from the second Pokemon Ranger game, Shadows Over Almia.
Care to guess who Kricketune was quoting there?

I would like to note that, yes, I know how Pokémon eggs hatch in the anime, and I know this isn't it. In my world, however, I'm going for a more animalistic view on Pokémon behavior, and if the Pokémon is smaller than the egg, it hatches semi-normally. If it's larger, it'll burst out, shattering the shell into fragments. In both cases, the shell dissolves.
Also, I only learned how Pokémon hatch in the anime after I wrote this scene, and I was kinda going off of the games there.

And yes, item cubes. Not entirely original, but very convenient, and a lot more logical than hammerspace.

So, yeah. My genderless Pokémon are genderless. I love how this is almost never done in fanfics—despite all the interesting things one can do with the idea. Even if you were writing smut—who says that genderless means no parts? Maybe they have both O.o …Or other… things.
…I am a very strange person :D

To my reviewer who wanted to know what the scene brakes meant… It's not necessary to enjoying the story, and most of what's put there is cryptic and takes a lot of thought to puzzle out (that is, if it makes sense at all—I'm not known for thinking in obvious ways), so if you don't care enough to figure it out on your own, you probably wouldn't get anything from it anyway.
Also, that's the most interesting thing in this story? Ouch.
…Though, I can see where you're coming from. The plot's a bit slow while all the characters get set up, but I'd say that things start picking up at chapter nine. So, enjoy the fluff while it lasts, 'cause things get dark.

To my reviewer who saw what I did there; indeed. You'll get another clue as to why that is the way it is much later.

Next chapter: Ashley makes another appearance and a battle is lost.

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