Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I do however own Alex, and this characterization of a member of the Darkrai, Purugly, Kricketune, Ponyta, and Murkrow species. Also, this characterization of the human currently known as 'Ashley'.

Chapter Seven:
Losers

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Alex smiled to herself, hands going on autopilot while she mixed her team's lunches. It had been two days since Murkrow had hatched, and perhaps it was the shared type, or maybe the fact that Darkrai was the first being it saw, but whatever the reason, Murkrow had accepted the legendary as its caregiver and completely ignored Alex, even though she was technically its trainer. Darkrai didn't seem to mind though; and after the hilarity of their initial meeting faded, the legendary had taken the little crow under its wing, feeding it when it was hungry, letting it sleep in its fur, and even grooming it in the morning before the nightmare Pokémon groomed itself. The whole affair was completely adorable, and Alex only regretted that she didn't have the foresight to bring a camera with her. Then again, maybe it was a good thing—she'd be far too tempted to share the photos, and Darkrai was supposed to be a secret.

Finishing with the preparations, Alex set the bowls of Pokémon food on the ground for her team, who ceased dancing around her feet and made a dive for the food while Darkrai looked on from a distance, settled in the shadow of a tree and feeding Murkrow out of the jar of baby food. The legendary hadn't been eating much lately, and it was starting to worry Alex. It didn't seem to bother the dark type—in fact, it seemed like Darkrai was simply forgetting to eat. Maybe it just wasn't hungry. Either way, the legendary had to be getting energy from somewhere, and Alex would much prefer it if she knew where that energy was coming from.

Alex waited for her Pokémon to finish their meals before packing the bowls back into their cube, then refolded the table and did the same to it, clapping twice to get her team's attention. She opened her mouth to speak, but someone else beat her to the punch.

"Hey! Another trainer!" A young boy, no older than ten years, came marching up the path from Sandgem behind Alex, "Let's battle!" And without further ado, sent out a (slightly beat-up) Starly.

Alex turned around and raised an eyebrow at the kid. "And hello to you too." The older trainer spared a quick glance in the direction of Darkrai, and found that the legendary had disappeared into the shadows, leaving Murkrow to stare at the ground intently. Looking back at the kid, Alex asked, "Are you sure you want to fight me? My Pokémon are a lot more experienced than yours, and yours look tired, besides."

But the boy just nodded with enthusiasm. "Yeah! I can take on anything you throw at me!"

Alex sighed. Well, she tried to warn him. "Purugly," the female trainer called to her Pokémon, "would you like to teach this kid some manners?" The fat cat looked over the boy and his Starly, snorted, then waddled to the impromptu battle field while the other Pokémon cleared off to the side lines.

The boy huffed indigently, "I'm not a—"

"Hypnosis."

With startling speed, the overweight Tiger Cat Pokémon bull-rushed the kid's Starly, locking eyes with it and coming to an abrupt halt about two inches from the little bird's face. Starly toppled over, out cold. Alex shared a secret grin with Purugly as the cat looked over her shoulder. Although Hypnosis wasn't a new move, the trainer got a strong feeling that the execution was inspired by a certain legendary watching from the shadows nearby.

Alex turned her attention back to the younger trainer. "Call back your Starly; it's unable to battle."

The boy shook his head, forcibly wiping the flabbergasted expression off his face. "Starly, return!" The bird disappeared into a beam of red light, and the boy switched out the Poké Balls. "Starly was just tired from a previous battle!"

Alex frowned. "Then you probably should have let it rest."

"Shut up!" The kid stomped his foot. "Go, Bidoof!"

The Plump Mouse Pokémon formed onto the battle field, turning to look at its trainer with a stupidly happy grin. The boy gritted his teeth and pointed to Purugly. "Tackle it!" The Bidoof looked over to the much larger cat Pokémon and squeaked in fear. "GO!" the young trainer urged. The small mouse Pokémon screwed up its face and let out a high-pitched war cry, charging at Purugly with commendable valor.

"Brace yourself, Purugly," Alex instructed. The fat cat turned her head to give her trainer a wry 'are-you-kidding-me?' look, not even noticing as the Bidoof finally reached her and promptly bounced off her muscular chest.

Purugly took a step forward and towered over the much smaller Pokémon, who was rolling on its back and clutching its head in pain. The fat cat leaned her face down to the Bidoof's level, catching its undivided attention. "Purugly."

The Bidoof shrieked in fear and ran back to its trainer, cowering behind his legs.

"Your Bidoof is unwilling to battle," Alex stated dryly.

Growling, the boy returned his Bidoof. "Fine! I'll let you fight my number one Pokémon!" The trainer dramatically flipped his hat backwards on his head before throwing his last ball. "Go, Chimchar!"

The little fire monkey Pokémon emerged from its ball onto the grass, clapping its hands and doing a flip before turning to bravely stare down the Tiger Cat Pokémon at the other end of the field.

The boy had such faith in his Pokémon that Alex almost felt sorry for what she was about to do. Almost. "Purugly—"

"—Murkrow!" The two day old flying type swooped into the battle and settled in front of Purugly, giving its fiery opponent a hiss.

It took a moment for Alex to recover. "Murkrow," she called, holding up its ball, "return!"

The bird nimbly dodged the beam of light, glaring over its shoulder at the flustered trainer.

The boy came back to his senses with a start and took the opportunity presented to him. "Chimchar! Use Thunder Punch!"

The fire monkey eked in agreement, charging forward with its tiny fist sparking while Murkrow defiantly stared its trainer down.

Heart clenching in fear, Alex drew in a deep breath and roared.

"STOP!"

Everyone in the clearing flinched—including Chimchar, who tripped and tumbled to a halt about a foot away from Murkrow.

The younger trainer gaped. "That's interference!"

Gaze boring into the defiant little crow, Alex ground out, "I forfeit the match."

"What?"

Alex glanced up from her staring contest and dug a bit of loose change from her pocket. "Take your winnings and leave."

The boy numbly walked forward and accepted the cash. "But that's not how I wanted to—"

"Leave."

The boy meeped and skirted around her, taking off down the path to Jubilife with his bewildered Chimchar following closely.

As soon as the young trainer was out of sight, a very frantic Darkrai shot out of the surrounding shadows, scooped up Murkrow, and began ranting at it angrily. Alex sighed, deciding to let Darkrai handle the discipline—Murkrow was already starting to look a bit guilty from the chewing out—and dropped to her knees next to Purugly.

"Did we piss off someone up there," she gestured to the sky, "or something?" Purugly shrugged, letting her trainer reach out and stroke her ears. "Can't even break a three year losing streak on a newbie."

Purugly gave her a dry look.

Alex sighed, "I know, we could break it if I really wanted to, but I don't like seeing you guys get hurt." The trainer frowned. "Especially not for something as shallow as pride."

The fat cat rolled her eyes.

Alex shook her head. "Let's just get moving." She rose to her feet and came face-to-face with Darkrai.

"Krai." The legendary gestured to her belt.

Blinking, Alex looked down to her waist. "What?" Darkrai delicately plucked the fifth little sphere from her line up and held it out to her. "You want me to return Murkrow?" the trainer guessed.

Darkrai nodded, backing away a bit and turning to face the sulking bird.

"Murkrow, return." There was no reaction from the little dark type as it vanished into the red light.

Sighing again, Alex hooked the ball back onto her belt. "Let's just go—" Alex broke off as Darkrai hugged her from behind, crossing its arms over her stomach and gently pulling her back into it.

"Dar, krai."

Alex blushed violently at the sudden contact. "You're, umm, welcome." The legendary nuzzled the back of her head for a moment before breaking off the hug and turning to talk to Purugly.

"Right," Alex cleared her throat to get rid of the squeak, much to the amusement of her Pokémon. "Let—let's go."

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Ashley returned the large blue and grey Pokémon to its ball, thanking it for letting her ride it again, and walked from the tiny secluded clearing to the nearby city of Jubilife. Ashley would normally use her Salamence or Garchomp for such a short hop, but time was of the essence, and the two dragons tended to attract attention. Well, all of her Pokémon tended to attract attention, but the one she ended up choosing to fly with had certain abilities that helped it escape notice.

It hadn't taken too long to pick up her quarry's trail, but Ashley had wanted to be absolutely sure she was following the right person, and had lingered in Canalave a bit longer than she would have liked. Whoever this Alex character was, she was either paranoid or she knew someone was following her. Or, Ashley thought, she knows she has something to hide. Ashley sincerely hoped it was the latter, because otherwise she was wasting a lot of valuable time on a wild goose chase.

Once she was sure her target was the right one (as much as she could be, at least), it was simple enough to deduce that Alex would pass through Jubilife, but wherever she went from there, Ashley so far had no clue.

But she did know someone who might.

A few phone calls, bribes, and innocent smiles later, Ashley was confidently pointed south, towards Sandgem. It was so easy to manipulate people into giving you information.

Especially when they thought you were female.

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"What were you thinking, Minion?" Darkrai berated Murkrow. The little bird was let out of its ball again once they had stopped for the night, and now that they had both had a chance to calm down, Darkrai was intent on determining where its charge had gotten its suicidal tendencies from.

Murkrow scuffed its claws against the ground. "I just wanted to impress you, Boss."

"By getting yourself hurt?" Darkrai asked.

Offended, the little bird cawed, "No, Boss! By winning!"

The legendary frowned. "Do you even know how to fight?"

Murkrow bobbed its head up and down. "Yeah Boss! Like this!" Before Darkrai could react, the little crow hopped into the air, glowed a brilliant gold, and lashed its wings out at the legendary, coating it with feathers. Murkrow settled back onto the ground, looking far too proud of itself.

Darkrai spat out a feather that had somehow made its way into the legendary's mouth. "That's—" The larger dark type paused to sneeze, "—interesting." Darkrai tried to say something else, but sneezed again instead.

Purugly walked over to the two dark types, grinning. "And that's still the most adorable sneeze I've ever heard." The cat let out a mock-contemplative hum, "Like a little baby Pichu taking its first bite of an apple."

Darkrai got the sense that Purugly was teasing it, but in all honesty, the legendary took being called 'cute' as a compliment. Maybe if the nightmare king had been cuter, it would have had a more peaceful life. People didn't try to kill cute things.

Darkrai sneezed again, prompting an 'aww' from Purugly. "You're so cute."

While the legendary might have secretly glowed from the praise, Murkrow was properly insulted. "Boss isn't cute!"

Purugly turned to the little crow with an evil smile. "No, you're much cuter than Darkrai."

Murkrow sputtered in indignation while Darkrai, unobserved, wilted slightly.

Then the legendary sneezed again.

Alex looked up from where she was setting up her tent and spied the three Pokémon conversing. Then she frowned as she realized that Darkrai was covered in feathers. Walking over to them, she seemed to make the connection between Murkrow and the legendary's feathered state. "You can use Feather Dance?" she addressed the tiny bird, crouching down to its level.

Murkrow nodded, giving its trainer a suspicious glare. "What of it?"

"That's a pretty advanced move—I'm not sure if Murkrow even normally learn it."

Purugly straightened in realization. "Oh! It's an egg move."

Alex nodded. "Probably inherited from the father, but still could be from the mother."

Murkrow cocked its head, looking up to Darkrai. "But Boss doesn't have feathers."

The legendary sighed, knowing—thanks to Purugly—where the confusion was coming from. "I didn't lay your egg, Minion."

The little bird blinked. "Oh." It paused for a moment before returning to the original conversation. "See? I can fight, Boss!"

Darkrai was about to voice its disapproval again, but once more was cut off by a sneeze.

Alex giggled. "If I may interject here—" the trainer pulled Darkrai's Moon Ball off her belt, "—I think I can help with that." She pointed the ball at the legendary and sent it a questioning look. Darkrai nodded, curious as to its trainer's plan, and let her return it.

Darkrai felt a warm glow suffuse its being as the empathy link surrounded it, informing the legendary through pure emotion what its trainer was feeling towards it. There was the usual affection Alex held for the dark type, as well as a bit of amusement—probably at its feathery nudged at the link, and Alex unconsciously responded with approval. The dark type wondered briefly if it could get away with grooming her again, later.

There was a bit more, though—Alex was oscillating between hope and shame with regards to something only vaguely involving Darkrai, but even as open as Alex was to the legendary, it still couldn't tell what. The trainer's will began to tug at the dark type, so Darkrai let itself be pulled back out into the world.

Alex grinned as the legendary formed. "Notice anything?"

Darkrai frowned and looked itself over. All the feathers that were embedded in its fur now littered the ground around it. The dark type gazed at its trainer in confused gratitude. "Did you… groom me?"

Purugly chortled while Alex frowned at her, not understanding Darkrai's words.

"Returning a Pokémon to its ball removes stat changes—good and bad—like Feather Dance causes," Alex explained, shaking off Purugly's strange mirth, "It's a good thing to remember when battling, but it also has its day-to-day uses as well."

Darkrai nodded, glad that it wouldn't have to spend several hours trying to get all the feathers out of its fur.

Murkrow, tired of being ignored, squawked at Darkrai, "Boss! I can fight! I can win!"

"Minion," the legendary started, then paused. Would it really be so bad for Murkrow to battle? Right now, yes; the little bird was too young and too disobedient to perform well in a battle. But later… Darkrai glanced at Alex, contemplating. The legendary knew the trainer wouldn't let Murkrow get hurt, and Darkrai didn't think that today's interrupted battle would be a one time event if the little crow didn't have some way to let off steam.

"Minion," Darkrai started again, mind made up, "you may fight," the legendary raised its voice to be heard over Murkrow's sudden chattering at that statement, "on two conditions." That quieted it down. "One;" Darkrai held up a claw, "you must always listen to what Alex tells you to do," at the little bird's offended huff, the larger dark type explained, "She is your trainer, and will know and do whatever is best for you."

Murkrow sighed. "Yes, Boss."

"Two;" Darkrai held up a second claw, "never, ever, race into a battle like you did earlier again. I know it looks like fun, but you can get seriously injured from fighting."

"Yes Boss."

Darkrai continued, "If you can accept these conditions, I will help train you to fight, and encourage Alex to let you battle when I deem you ready."

Murkrow's eyes grew big. "Really, Boss?"

Darkrai nodded. "Do you accept?"

The little bird returned the nod solemnly. "I accept your conditions, Boss."

"Good." Darkrai glanced over to Purugly, who was looking impressed by the legendary's display.

"You handled that well," Purugly complemented as Alex, feeling that she had been dismissed, went back to setting up her tent. Murkrow apparently decided to follow her around for awhile and watch her set up camp, flying off to chase after the trainer while she worked.

"It needed to be said." Darkrai sighed. "As much as I have come to hate it, battling is a vital part of our being—some cannot even grow up properly without it." The legendary nodded, mostly to itself. "I can't deny that part of life for Murkrow, even if I am against it myself."

Purugly blinked. "That's very mature of you."

Darkrai shrugged. "If it were anyone other than Alex, I would forbid it." At Purugly's raised eyebrows, it explained, "I know she'll keep Murkrow safe and only let it fight when she's confident it can win without injury."

Then it was Purugly's turn to sigh. "Yeah, but sometimes I wish she would trust us a bit more—or at least let us get a little hurt." Darkrai waited for the fat cat to explain. "Hey, it's no fun if you know you're going to win. Sometimes you want a challenge."

Darkrai narrowed its eyes. "I don't."

Purugly snorted. "Haven't you ever won a battle you thought you were going to lose?"

"Yes," the nightmare king murmured darkly, "I have."

The fat cat's smug smile crept off her face as she continued more timidly, "How did you feel afterwards?"

"Exhausted."

After a wary pause, Purugly asked quietly, "And after that?"

The legendary took a deep breath. "After the first time, I felt proud that I had won. After the second time, I felt hopeful that it wouldn't happen again—that I had proved my strength enough to be left alone. After a few more times, I felt despair. Many times after that, resignation. Then hate. First, only for those that fought me, then, for everyone else. I hated myself for awhile, but that was too tiring to keep up for long. I didn't feel much after that." Darkrai sighed, staring straight ahead but still seeing Purugly's dismayed expression clearly. "It was cold. Not the kind that makes you shiver—the kind that makes you shudder to think about now, but doesn't really feel like anything at the time." The legendary's gaze fell on Alex, who had finished setting up her tent and was now laughing as Murkrow played with the worn, shiny zipper tab. "It's much warmer now."

After a very long pause in which Purugly could find absolutely nothing to say, Darkrai turned its gaze back to the cat. "I know that wasn't the answer you wanted, but it's the truth. I don't like battling, and I probably never will." The legendary nodded to Murkrow. "But I know I'm the exception to the rule, and I won't let my experiences keep Murkrow away from something I know for a fact that most Pokémon enjoy greatly." The dark type smiled beneath its collar, if somewhat bitterly. "I have, after all, battled a great many teams, and I know well all of their opinions on fighting for their trainers."

Purugly blinked, and seemed to consider something. "Can I ask you a question?"

Darkrai stared in surprise at the brash cat's sudden hesitance. "Of course. I didn't mean to upset you, or make you wary of me,"—that was something else Darkrai had had enough of—"I don't like to think about my past when I'm with you guys because it brings the cold back—and I'm quite tired of being cold." The legendary shook its head, trying to dispel its strange mood. "Anyway, you had a question?"

"Yeah…" Purugly almost looked regretful for opening her mouth. "If Alex asked you to fight, would you?"

Darkrai nodded. "Yes. I know she would not ask me on a whim, but rather only if the situation was dire. So yes, I would fight if she asked me to."

"So that's why that Bidoof was screaming 'DEATH!' when it charged at Purugly!" Ponyta's excited whinny carried over to the conversing Pokémon, neatly breaking the somber mood.

Darkrai turned its attention to the fire colt, who was, as per usual, bouncing on his hooves in animated joy. "Man," he whickered, "you guys get to have all the cool stuff—I'm not even allowed indoors!"

Kricketune hummed, "Perhaps we can find an outdoor theater near a town, or find a way to ask Alex if we can all watch Shogun of the Rings together."

Darkrai hung back as Purugly waddled over to join in on their conversation, a small hidden smile playing across its face as the fat cat paused mid way there and glanced over her shoulder at it with a 'you-coming-or-what?' look. Yes, things are warmer now, Darkrai thought as it followed Purugly, Much warmer.

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End chapter.

To my reviewer who went out on a limb; Murkrow is a main character, and as I've said, all my characters have their depths and develop in their own ways.

To my reviewer who recognized the quote; Good catch.
Also, random fact: Mewtwo can be taught HM07 Dive. Just… Picture that for a moment.
*Trainer glomps Mewtwo* "Mewtwo! Use Dive!"
"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

To my reviewer who saw what I did earlier; Yes indeed. We'll have two more chapters of this before things get serious.

To every single person who reads this; here's a quick lesson in grammar with regards to 'it'.
It's = It is.
Its = possessive of it.
Them/They = plural of it.
Their= plural possessive of it.
They're = They are.

Examples:
It's their choice.
They're its family.

Think him/her verses his/hers—it's not he's or she's, or him's or her's.

This gets a bit confusing when you realize that this only applies to pronouns, while proper nouns work in the opposite manner;

It was the legendary's choice.
The two legendaries stared at each other.

…Though, Word keeps insisting that the plural of legendary is legendry. Not sure I like that.

Questions? Comments? …Concerns? Well, not even Darkrai can read your mind (well, not your mind), so if there's something you want to say, make sure to post a review to let me know. I welcome constructive criticism. I will never yell at you for stating your opinion-but please include a reason if you're going to flame.