Purugly felt her holder's panic before she was released back into the world. Upon materializing, she crouched down, ready to fight, and took in the room. She was in a good sized Pokemon center and most of the people and Pokemon were asleep; draped over couches, sprawled across the floor, or slumped against the wall. One figure that was not amongst them was a tiny bug with pink detritus covering its form. It had a vine holding her pokeball open and was clearly panicking.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do! No one will wake up!" the little bug's coat shivered.
Purugly calmed herself down and set to doing the same to the obviously young Burmy.
"You did well, little one, hush now," the tiger cat soothed, "let me get the rest of my team out, and we'll talk about what to do."
Purugly took another look around and noted the nurse slumped against the counter behind her and the tray holding her team face down on the floor. Using her nose, the fat cat tracked down the rest of the balls from where they had rolled and released her three teammates.
"What's going on-"
"Where's Boss?"
"It has happened, hasn't it?"
Everyone turned to Kricketune.
"What's happened?"
"The great darkness has come."
"Oh Arceus, we're all gonna…"
"Kricketune! Stop scaring the kid!"
Everyone looked back at Purugly, who heaved a great sigh and turned to the Burmy again. "Ok, kid, what happened?"
"There was this scary shadow and everyone fell asleep!" the little trash bug wailed, "Then these people in weird clothes dragged a lady from the back with a puppy away!"
Purugly felt her heart clench. It seems like those fiends from before had finally caught up-but where was Darkrai? And who was the puppy? "Do you know where they took them?"
The little Burmy shook itself. "N-no, that was when I…"
Purugly felt her maternal instincts rear their head. "Hey, it's okay little one," she comforted, bunting her head against the bug's side. "You did good."
Ponyta shuffled near the door. "They got Alex, didn't they?"
Purugly nodded. "It would seem so."
"Boss?" Murkrow cawed, looking around.
"And if they have Alex, they certainly have Darkrai," Purugly deduced.
"What are we gonna do?" Ponyta whickered.
Kricketune hummed. "Get our nightmare back."
"Boss!" crowed Murkrow.
Purugly lowered her nose to the ground. "I can smell them!"
"Then let's go!" Ponyta neighed.
"Wait." Purugly glanced around and spotted a Whismur. She nodded to the pink blob and addressed the young Burmy. "Wake that one first, they'll help you get everyone else up."
The little bug nodded, a look of resolve washing over its face.
"Well, let's go then."
-o-
Alex wakes up in the same room as Tobias, and is informed of the situation; Team Hearsay has been collecting powerful Pokemon in an effort to limit their effects on humanity-Tobias is part of a group headed by N to counter their efforts in the belief that simply asking the legendaries nicely to not rampage will work. Which, in fairness, has indeed worked before.
More recently, Hearsay has been collecting Darkrai and visiting ancient runes, seemingly in pursuit of a strange blue flute. Tobias is interrupted by Albert checking in on them and returning Poochyena(who, after biting one of the grunts, was taken to the med bay due to the resulting flailing dashing the poor baby against a wall). We get some comic relief here from Albert stoically fanboying over Tobias, who later laments that the one person who remembers him is crazy.
-o-
Darkrai wakes up in an odd sphere covered in feathers with the Elder and Sire who fill it in; Team Hearsay had captured Cresselia and used her to track down the Darkrai and subdue them. Cresselia and the Elder banter a bit, half bitter, half fond, and Cress adds in that she thinks the team is trying to interfere in godly affairs, as she's heard talk of certain items and certain places being searched for and secured.
-o-
Alex's Pokemon gatecrash the Team Hearsay airship where everyone is being held, assisted by a number of Pokemon from the Elder's garden who want their prickly friend back.
Poochyena manages to escape through a vent and stumble upon the chaos and lead some Pokes back to Alex and Tobias to free them. The two humans then find themselves commanding a rather large and angry horde of Pokemon and storm the command deck, confronting Lady Care and Sir Albert. Knowing now that there's more to fighting than winning, Alex manages to hold her own against Care while Tobias proves his battle prowess by taking Albert in a rematch, thoroughly trouncing him. Lady Care sees the way the tides are turning and forfeits her match with Alex, losing with grace and beating a retreat with a few ominous (but kind!) words. "I know you're just here for your friends, and I'm sorry to have caused you such distress. We'll just have to find another way, I guess."
The legendaries are freed and the ship is taken into custody by a conveniently arriving N, who offers Alex a place on his team. She tells him she'll think about it and he shrugs, leaving to converse with Cresselia who gives him a rundown before flying away.
And that's all I wrote, folks! Thank you all for your support over the years and for following this silly little adventure with our sweet little goober of darkness and friends. You guys gave me the courage to pursue a writing career, and now I'm publishing next week! Thank you all, so, so much!
Goodnight, and-
Sweet dreams.