Chapter I: A New Moon

The voyage had taken nearly seven days, but at last, Will was able to make out in the distance a great shape that seemed to stretch its way up into the sky. From everything that he had heard about the region, he guessed that the mass must have been the far peak of Mt. Coronet. A mountain famed throughout the entire world. It was even taller than Mt. Silver back home in Johto, and was steeped in ancient mysteries.

The sun was setting, and had cast a red gaze upon the calm sea giving it an almost caramel appearance. Weavile stood on top of the ships railing, excitedly staring at the approaching region. He was as ready for this adventure as Will. Before long the ship was pulling up towards the harbor of Canalve city. Hardly able to contain himself, Will rushed off the ship onto the dock, Weavile in hot pursuit. Once they had managed to reach a place where water no longer lurked beneath their feet Will through his hands up into the air in triumph.

"We made it! Were finally in SINNOH!" A couple of persons gave the young man strange looks as they passed but he didn't mind. He had waited years for this moment, nothing was going to spoil it. He knew that the first place he should head for was the Pokemon center, but he was tired of waiting and wasn't even sure if he would be able to sleep due to excitement. Instead he was resolved to begin making the long trip toward Snowpoint city, a venture that would undoubtedly take him possibly a week or more to complete. He followed signs and cobblestone streets, crossing over a large drawbridge whose closing signified the end of the work day for the warehouse workers of the city. Soon he was passing the Pokemon center and heading toward the gate that would take him into the wilds of the region when a voice called out.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Will turned to see a young man of about his age with sandy colored hair rushing up to greet him. "Are you crazy? You can't go out tonight!"

"I'm sorry but did I miss something? There weren't any signs that said I couldn't leave the city. Besides, it will be fine. I'm a trainer see?" he said flashing Weaviles pokeball.

"Let me guess, you're not from around here, are you?" asked the boy with a scrupulous look on his face. "One of those arrogant twits from the trainer's school in Jubilife?"

"Jubilife? What? No!" Said Will feeling his temper flare a little. "Look My name is Will. I just got off a ferry from the Kanto region. This is my first time in Sinnoh." The young man's face softened.

"Oh! Well that explains everything then! My gosh! I'm sorry I guess I should explain why I stopped you. See you can't leave the city tonight because it's a new moon." He pointed toward a darkened disk in the sky.

"Annnnnd?" said Will impatiently.

"And, if you leave the city on the night of the new moon, you'll find yourself trapped inside a never-ending nightmare at the hands of Darkrai!" Said the boy, his hands thrown out to his sides in disbelief.

"Who's Darkrai?"

"Unbelievable. Look come with me and I will explain everything." More by force Will found himself being led back into the city, coming to stop in front of the door to a small house near the bridge. "Come on in! There's some left-over potato soup if you are hungry. I've also got all sorts of treats for a pokemon if your partner is hungry."

"Oh wow, really? Well yes I uhm. Thank you that would be swell!" The excitement of beginning the journey had pressed the thought of food out of Will's mind, but the mentioning of soup had awakened his stomach and he happily accepted the offer.

"I'm Artemis by the way. Artemis Eldritch. Pleasure to make your acquaintance! So, what brings a trainer here all the way from Kanto?"

"Johto actually," said Will between large spoonfull of soup, "and I'm here to further my training as an ice type specialist."

"Is that right? Well then if I had to guess you're on your way to Snowpoint then?"

"That's right. I would have been on my way now had you not stopped me."

"Oh that, well look here Will I only did that for your own safety. Trust me, this isn't the type of night you want to be out and about on."

"Because of… What did you call it? Dark something."

"Its name is Darkrai," said Artemis with a grave look on his face, "It's a Mythical Pokemon that resides here in the Sinnoh region."

"Wait a Mythic?" said Will nearly spitting his soup out in the process. He had heard of other mythical Pokemon before, like the time traveler Celbi from Johto, or the ever-elusive Mew of Kanto. "Why wouldn't I want to meet a Mythical Pokemon?"

"Well this one is not exactly the kindest creature on the face of the planet. See, Darkrai has the ability to trap people in nightmares. Nobody is quite sure why it does it, but once you're in its not very easy to get back out. Some have stayed locked in their dreams until they just waste away and die. Almost happened to me when I was a kid. Luckily, my dad and this trainer managed to make it all the way to a hidden place off the coast called Full Moon Island. It's the home of another Mythical Pokemon called Cresselia, who is kind of the opposite of Darkai. She has the power to dispel Nightmares and even give people good dreams. Her feathers alone are capable of getting the bad dreams to go away, and that's just what that trainer and my dad found." Artemis opened the drawer of a nearby desk, retrieving a well-worn and weakly glimmering plume.

"They brought this to me, and it snapped me right out of my nightmare. Ever since that day, I have kind of devoted myself to studying the two. I like to call them the Lunar Duo, since both seem to move around based on the current phases of the moon. As I am sure you've already guessed, Darkai appears on nights when the new moon is out, and the night sky is at its darkest. Cresselia on the other hand appears during the full moon, when the sky is the brightest. Normally, only one or two people a year end up getting caught in Darkrai's Nightmares. But this year has been different. Seven people have already been hospitalized, and all of them are suffering the same symptoms of unending sleep. I have kept hoping that Cresselia would show up and fix things but…" Artemis fell quiet, staring down at the floor. "I'm sorry, I know we don't know each other very well, and here I am dumping all this information onto you."

"No don't be sorry! Geeze you probably just saved me from wasting my whole journey!" said Will. He found that he had a deep appreciation for this 'Artemis'. "See, I have been waiting nearly ten years to finally go out on my own journey. Wouldn't be much of an adventure if I wound up stuck in some nightmare, right?"

"Wait. You've never been on a journey? But you're like what almost seventeen?"

"It's a long story, probably would bore you," said Will going back to his bowl of soup, "anyhow, why do you think Cresselia hasn't come back yet? If it's the only one that can stop the nightmares, then you'd think it would show up after so many people have been trapped."

"A good question," said Artemis, dashing over toward a messy bookshelf, "But I think that I have the answer! Or at least an idea. See about six years ago, Darkrai was sighted in a region other than Sinnoh. In fact, it appeared all the way in Unova. Up until that point we hadn't had any cases of nightmares for quite a few years which leads me to believe that it must have been traveling. Sadly, though, its reappearance was a death sentence for this little girl. Her father tried his best to save her but. He had to come all the way to Sinnoh to hunt for Cresselia, and by the time he had finally found one of her feathers and returned home. Well, it was too late. His daughter was already gone." Will felt his stomach tighten.

"Wow… I've never heard of a Pokemon doing something so malicious before."

"A lot of researchers in the field are quite stumped by its behavior. Some think that Darkrais nightmares are just a form of self-defense that have devastating consequences. Others believe that it has more sinister motives behind its actions. I'm not sure what to believe. That's why I study it. I want to understand."

"Is there anything that we can do to help?" asked Will. His grandfather had warned him that adventure would spring up in the oddest of ways, and that he should never turn a blind eye to opportunity.

"Hmmm. Well as of right now, we need one of two things to happen. First, we could find a way to get Cresselia to come back from wherever it is she went. That however, is like hunting for a shiny. No what we need is something that puts the odds a little more in our favor and I think I might have an idea. The only problem is that… Well."

"Well what!?" shouted Will. Even he was surprised at his own sudden desire to help in the matter. "Sorry, it's just. If there is something that I can do to help somebody that needs it. Well, I'll do whatever it takes."

"A brave one aren't you?" said Artemis with a bit of a smile. "Well alright then. We could try and find Full Moon island. It's the roosting place for Cresselia, and undoubtedly is overflowing with her energy. This feather of mine. It doesn't affect people that are sleeping anymore. But I think that is just because it's power dwindled over the years having been separated from Cresselia. If we could get it back to the island, then there's a chance that we might be able to restore its power to dispel nightmares. It's a bit of a long shot, but at the moment it's the best that we've got."

"Well that's all well and dandy, but how on earth are we going to find a hidden island?" Artemis smiled.

"Come with me, and I'll show you." Together to the two ventured back out into the city, traveling down deserted streets which had been vibrant with activity just an hour ago. Artemis led Will onto the docks, down to where smaller boats had been tethered up. He stopped at a rather old looking one that seemed as if it had seen better days.

"My old man left me his boat! It's the same one that he took with that trainer all those years ago when they were saving me from the nightmares. I figure, why not try and repeat those events? After all, if it worked for them why wouldn't it work for us?"

"Fair enough," said Will stepping onto the boat. He couldn't see any major flaws with the plan, other than the possibility of sinking. Artemis on the other hand was quick to jump into the driver's seat, shoving off from the dock and starting the boat up with surprising ease.

"Here, take this to the front and hold it out in front of you when I say," said Artemis handing over the Lunar wing. He pulled the boat away from the harbor and before long, the two were out on the open ocean. The sea had never scared Will before, but then again he had never been at its mercy. While the ferry had placed him high up above the water, this boat was nearly level with the waves and at times he felt certain that they were going to capsize. Quietly he thought of how lucky Weavile was getting to stay in its pokeball as a spray of freezing brine caught him full in the face.

"Alright, now from the story that my dad told me, he and that trainer headed towards the north, past Iron Island. After that, he followed that trainer's intuition more than anything else. I think that the odds are better in our favor this time around though. Full speed ahead!" The engine roared and the boat surged forward. Wind grasped and clawed at Will every chance it had, and he thanked his Grandfather for the warm coat he had provided to him. A dark mass came into view on the left of their horizon, which Artemis confirmed to be Iron Island. He steered them farther towards the north, and as the shape sank into the distance so too did the lights of Canalve City. It was cloudy out, and without the light of the moon the night was dark as could be. Every now and then, Artemis would slow the boat down while Will would hold the feather up. Three times they tried this, hoping for a response, and three times they failed.

"I'm not sure this is going to work Artemis." Said Will, growing more skeptic by the minute.

"Hang on, I'm not giving up just yet. Lunatone I need your help!" there was a flash as Artemis called upon a Pokemon Will had never seen before. Its body was cream colored and shaped like a crescent moon. At its center, there was a beak like mouth that extended outward, and a pair of red eyes glinted through the night. "See, Lunatone is both a rock type and a psychic type. But even more important than that, it has ties to the moon! Its power ebbs and flows with the lunar cycles. Tonight is a new moon, which means Lunatone is at its weakest. However, that very sensitivity to lunar activity just might be able to help guide us toward the island! Here show him the lunar wing." Will held the feather up to Lunatone whose eyes shone brightly and became fixated on the item. "Good job Lunatone, now find us that island!"

The moon Pokemon twisted its body round so that it laid flat in the air, and spun around like a top for a few seconds. Then slowly but surely it began to slow, until finally its beak pointed in a solid direction.

"Artemis, I think it wants you to go west!" The two were off again, guided by Lunatone's sensitivity. A few times they had to stop and repeat the process, but they both could feel that with every passing minute that they were getting closer. The boat came to a halt as Lunatone lost the scent, and began analyzing the plume once more.

"I can feel it Will. This time, were going to make it!" Will shook his head in agreement, but then found himself transfixed on a peculiar sight. A single bright blue eye was peering at them from out over the water. It gleamed brightly in the darkness that surrounded it.

"Hey… Artemis do you see that?" asked Will pointing toward the peculiarity.

"Huh? What I don't see…" Even in the dark Will could see the color drain from Artemis's face. He was transfixed upon the eye, and whispered quietly as if almost to himself.

"Darkrai…It's watching us." Without waiting Artemis gassed the boat forward, following the new point that Lunatone continued to hold. Will felt his heart race with fear. Snaking its way over the waves was the silhouette of the nightmare Pokemon, its one eye still locked upon the boat.

"We can't let it get to close! If it does it will put us all to sleep!" Shouted Artemis, "See if you can slow him down!"

"Weavile get ready!" Shouted Will as he called out his partner. The tiny ice type seemed to recognize its foe almost immediately and growled in response.

"Man that thing is fast" thought Will as he studied the shapeless terror that pursued them. Artemis was right, it was steadily gaining.

"Alright well then we'll match him speed for speed! Weavile use ice shard!" The frozen bolts were formed in a flash, and gone in the next flying outward over the water towards the mythic Pokemon. Much to Will's horror though, not a single one landed a hit. Instead the eye of their pursuer zigged this way and that like a lightning bolt, dodging the shards.

"No way, I've never seen anything move that fast before!"

"Will look!" yelled Artemis, pointing toward the lunar wing which had begun to slightly shimmer. "We're almost there! We just need a little more time! Keep trying!"

"Ice shard double time!" Weavile sent another flurry towards its foe, still failing to land a blow. Instead a miasma of dark energy seemed to be forming beneath that bright eye, covered in a violet hue. Then without warning this energy burst forth in a steady stream aimed right towards the boat.

"Lunatone quick use protect!" The moon Pokemon spun upright before generating a large green barrier around the boat, managing to block the blast."

"Weavile quick aim for the center of that attack! Ice shard!" Weavile fired and Will let out a triumphant roar as he saw the eye fall back several paces with the boat.

"Will Look! Dead ahead! I think I see it! Fullmoon Island!" Will glanced forward to see it. A tiny outcropping of land in the middle of the sea. The feather was glowing even brighter now, this had to be it! Then a dreadful cry rang out above them. Will looked up to find that blue eye staring down at them. A large sphere of dark energy then came raining down, striking Weavile and causing the Pokemon to fall to the floor fast asleep.

"WEAVILE!"

"Alright I have had just about enough of you!" Yelled Artemis, pulling off the gas. Darkrai flew ahead as the boat slowed, having not been ready for this unexpected move. "Gotcha now, Lunatone use Moonblast!" The lunar Pokemons body became cloaked in a rosy hue while a large orb or pink energy formed on its beak. Then much like a cannon it blasted this attack forward, catching Darkrai fully in the face. The pokemon let out a howl of pain before vanishing into the Darkness.

"Alright, that should buy us just enough time to get the wing all charged up!" smiled Artemis. Carefully he pulled the boat up to the island. Will returned Weavile to its pokeball, panic building in his chest.

"Weavile he. Fell asleep does that mean that?" Artemis smiled.

"Lucky for us, Pokemon physiology reacts differently to Darkrai's powers. Weavile will be asleep for now, but he will wake up on his own. You could even fix him with a quick trip to a Pokemon center should the need arise. I still don't understand why that's the case but hey, win where you can right?" The island consisted of nothing more than a small hill, whose summit was crowned by a tiny grove. Together they entered the trees, coming upon a small clearing where a crescent shaped pond stood out against the darkness.

"Will, hand me the Lunar Wing. I've got an idea." Artemis took the plume and made his way toward the center of the crescent shape. Carefully, he placed the feather into the water, then waited. Sure enough, the feather began to glow brighter and brighter, until the entire grove was lit up by a pillar of light that shot up high into the sky. That's when Will saw it again. That bright blue eye, staring down at him. But this time he could see more. The Pokemon's body was like that of a shadow. A specter wrapped in a ragged black cloak. A series of sharp red spines sprang up around its neck and head where a ghostly plume of greyish fog seemed to billow back and forth. Beneath this was its single eye which watched unblinking. It was haunting and yet, mystifying. What came next was mostly a blur. Will heard Artemis shouting something, and noticed a sparkling shape out of the corner of his left eye. Then everything went black.

He could hear it. A voice. It was calling out to him. It was familiar.

"Hello William."

"Mama?" He couldn't believe it. It was her, down to the last detail. From her bright blonde hair to her powdery blue eyes. "Mama, what are you doing here? This place, this isn't where you should be." It was dark all around them, and Will could feel his heart starting to beat faster and faster. The sound it made seemed to reverberate throughout the air.

"You know why I am here William."

"What? Me? But I haven't seen you since…"

"You left me here William. You left me here all alone. For ten years you left me waiting in the cold and the dark. Left me so that I would die."

"Mama, that's not true! You know that isn't true! I wouldn't have left you I. I wanted to come look for you but father said it was too dangerous! That I was too young!" It wasn't right though. Will knew that no matter what he said, he would never be able to prove her wrong. Even now, the specter that stood over him was changing. Her face was turning blue, as frost ate away at her clothes and skin.

"All alone. After everything that I did for you. I loved you with all my heart William. Why did you leave me?"

"Grandpa looked for you for months Mama. He turned Mt. Silver upside down trying to find you. I wanted to go with him, but I wasn't old enough. I wasn't strong enough."

"You wanted me out of your way." said his mother. Her face was beginning to decay, shriveling so that it looked like those frozen mummies he had seen as a kid in the Pewter museum. "Out of the way so that you could be gym leader once Papa is gone. You never really loved me at all did you."

"But I did Mama! I did love you! I've never stopped loving!"

"Then why William. Why did you leave me here to rot?" He couldn't answer. He didn't know what to say. He was fighting to hold back the tears in his eyes. This wasn't right. He had something to do, something important. But his head had become foggy. All he could think about was her, buried under the snow, lost and alone.

"Now that's quite enough of that William. Stand up, that is not your mother." Will looked up to see his grandfather standing next to him.

"Grandpa? What are you… how did you get here?"

"You called me here William, you and your little friend. I must thank you. Had it not been for you two I might not have ever been able to return to Sinnoh."

"Return?" His grandfather held up his hand for silence though, and advanced on the frozen corpse that still loomed before them.

"Your mother would never accuse you of doing such terrible things. I've seen your real dreams, and I know very well that you loved her. This impostor is nothing more than a figment of your nightmares. Do not let her haunt you my boy." As he spoke Will noticed that his Grandfathers shape was changing. He was transforming into something else. At the same time a bright light seemed to be emanating from his body, causing the darkness and his mother to fade away. He could hear someone else now talking with him. They were asking him a question.

"Grandpa wait where are you going?" His grandfather had morphed at this point into a beautiful swan like creature, whose head was adorned with radiant crescent ornaments. Its feathers were colored creamy yellow and blues, and it seemed to be engulfed in a halo of pink light. The creature made an otherworldly sound as it faded into the growling light.

The next thing Will knew, he was lying on a bed. Weavile was sitting on top of his chest looking worriedly at its trainer, while two strangers stood off to the right. A girl in a red overcoat with long and dark hair, and an elderly man with a thick white beard and stern face.

"What? Where am I? Who are you people?" Will sat up and looked around. There were odd machines strewn about the room, as well as a great number of desks covered in books.

"Relax Will, everything is going to be alright!" said Artemis, emerging from behind the older man's broad posture, "I'm just glad to see that you made it back to the mainland in one piece! You've been asleep here, and Weaviles been keeping a watch over you."

"But how did I get here? and where exactly is here?" This time it was the elderly man who spoke.

"All in good time my boy. I'm sure you have many questions. I would as well after such an adventure. But we will get to that later. As for where you are, this is my laboratory where I conduct research on Pokemon evolution. You may call me Professor Rowan."

"Rowan? Then, I must be in Sandgem town! But that doesn't make any sense! How on earth did I get here?"

"It's kind of complicated Will, even we don't really know," said Artemis while scratching the back of his head. "See, we managed to reach Fullmoon island, and when we put the feather into the pond it created a huge beacon. Then I saw Darkrai use its dark void attack on you which caused you to pass out. I'm pretty sure it was about to do the same thing to me but Cresselia came shooting down from out of the sky like a comet and drove him off. Then the whole grove just filled with blinding light. When it passed, you and Cresselia were both gone. I wasn't sure what to do, but then I had an image just pop into my head. Almost like a vision of sorts. I recognized Lake Verity, so I got back into the boat and went home."

"Then he proceeded to wake me with his incessant calling on the telephone at three in the morning," growled professor Rowan. "He explained to me the situation, so my assistant Dawn and I went to the lake to check things out and sure enough there you were passed out in the grass."

"Seems like Cresselia helped get rid of your nightmare, but wanted you to sleep for a little while longer. I only made it to Sandgem town earlier this morning."

"So, I've been asleep this whole time?"

"That's right! But you will be happy to know that our work paid off! All of the people in the hospital woke up this morning! Cresselia must have paid them a visit too! Now everything is back to normal!" Artemis danced around the lab as he said this, "My report on the Lunar duo is just going to blow away the scientific community when they hear about all of this!" Will sat up feeling incredibly hungry.

"Say, there wouldn't happen to be any place to eat around here is there?"

"Oho! Nothing to worry about, one of my lab assistants will go grab us something to eat. For now, I want both of you together, give me the full report on what it is that took place," said the professor while pulling up a chair.

For the next hour, Will and Artemis explained their bizarre adventure, how they had found the island, and the attack from Darkrai. Will omitted any mentions of what it exactly was that he had seen when it came time to talk about his dreams, instead saying that it had all become rather foggy. By the late afternoon, the two friends were set and ready to begin making their way towards Jubilife city, the next stop on the way to Snowpoint. Professor Rowan had provided Will with a map of the region, and had even marked out a faster route. Artemis had decided that he was quite fond of the idea of traveling again, and had decided to stick with Will on his journey. Will figured having a companion on the road wouldn't be a problem, and found himself enjoying more and more Artemis's company. Besides that, having a native of the region traveling with him might come in handy.

"Before you go William, I noticed that you don't seem to have a Pokedex with you. I had heard from Oak that Professor Elm was supposed to give you one."

"Really? Oh well he never did," said Will with a laugh.

"Not a problem, I have a few spares right here that you can pick from. After all, it is an indispensable tool for trainers. I'll just need to register your trainer card along with it."

"Trainers card?" Rowan glowered at the young man.

"Your grandfather never took you to register your trainer ID card?"

"Oh well uhm. No sir you see. This is my first time going on a journey so I guess I have never really needed one."

"I see," said Rowan, his face softening a tad. "Very well then, come over here and we will get you all registered!" Will chose a dark blue Pokedex, liking how it matched with his jacket. It was a the Sinnoh model whose design reminded him of a handheld gaming device from his childhood. Professor Rowan than guided Will over to another computer which had him enter information for his ID.

"Let's see. Home town? Mahogany. Region? Johto. Full name?" He paused for a moment, then smiled.

"William J. Willow." With that the trainers card was complete, and he received both a physical copy and a digital one which was synced to his Pokedex.

"Alright then young William, it looks like you are all set and ready to go!"