Chapter 10: Perpetual Night

The scenery around us was very eerie. All the trees were dead with no leaves on them. The ground was a creepy gray color. There were cliffs everywhere that were jagged and sharp; it looked like you could fall to your death from them. Most importantly, there was little light. We were travelling under a New Moon, so there wasn't even moonlight to guide. We had to be very careful and watch where we stepped.

Lyss was holding on to my arm really tightly. She seemed pretty freaked out by all the dangerous looking cliffs and us not knowing where we were going. I was pretty freaked out by it too, but I wasn't about to let it show. Kai was moving right on ahead of us. Nothing seemed to scare her. Eventually, we decided to stop to rest for the… well, night, I guess.

"Do you know the legend of the nightmare bringer?" Kai asked as I go the fire going

"No, I haven't." I said

"I don't think I want to…" said Lyss

"Well that's too bad, because I'm telling it. A long time ago, there was a Pokémon that came out on nights of a new moon, just like tonight. It was said to be black as night, with the appearance of ghost. It had piercing blue eyes and a white, fog-like head. It greatly resembles a shadow. It is said that this Pokémon moves along swiftly in the shadows. It goes out to defend itself and its territory. Whenever it feels threatened, it puts victims in a deep slumber. Its victims are then said to suffer the most horrible of nightmares. Its name… is Darkari."

"That's a scary sounding Pokémon..." whined Lyss

"Yeah, I defiantly wouldn't wanna mess with it." I said

"Yes, defiantly. But that is why it is called a legendary Pokémon. No one knows if it exists or not."

"That's true…" I said. "But what about Celebi? Celebi turned out to be real."

"Yeah…" said Lyss "Do you think Team Cataclysm is after this Darkarai too?"

"Who knows what they're up to…" Kai said. "What's important now is that we get some rest."

"Yeah, we should, night Lyss, night Kai" I said as I climbed into my sleeping bag

"Night" the two girls said

***A few hours later***

"Andrew… Andrew, wake up… Andrew!"

I woke up, a little startled, to see who had woken me up. It was Lyss.

"Wha-who, what?" I asked kinda stupidly in the midst of my sleepy confusion.

"Oh… Sorry, I just, was scared and couldn't sleep. It's all this darkness, it has me scared."

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's fine. I mean, it's not like we're gonna get swallowed up by the darkness or anything."

"But still…"

"Oh, okay, I'll stay up with you."

I got up and out of my sleeping bag and sat next to Lyss by our dying fire. She scooted closer as we watched the small fire.

"You know, I'm surprised I'm still even in this competition" she said.

"Why?" I asked. "You're a fantastic trainer"

"But this competition is so rough. I was sure Luzige would've beaten me for sure. And if he was that tough, and Draco was incredibly tough, too, it just makes me wonder what the other Area Leaders are like. You know?"

"Yeah, I get ya. It is tough. Really tough. Draco put a such a tough fight. And then Luzige's strategy was hard to beat. Makes me think this next guy is going to be incredibly tough."

"Yeah…" she said.

We sat there in silence for a while. She leaned on my shoulder as we watched the remainder of the fire die.

Soon, I heard the grass rustle. I checked to see if Lyss was awake. She had fallen asleep. I gently lowered her head to the grass and covered her with a blanket. I then got up to investigate the sound.

I walked on in the darkness, and then heard it again. I was following the direction of the noise now. It was pretty ominous considering the darkness around me. It didn't sound like a Pokémon, as wild pokemon were supposed to be rare here in Nova. Although, since I had run into Celebi, I was beginning to wonder about other legendary Pokémon that could have taken up residency here.

Suddenly, I collided with someone. We both went tumbling to the ground. I couldn't really see, but I could tell he was male. As soon as I got up, he ran. I ran after him. I wanted to know what someone was doing here and why he was being so suspicious.

"All right, go Ampharos, you too Blaziken, I need some light!"

I sent out Amphaaros and Blaziken. Ampharos's jewels began to glow. Blaziken lit small fires in his claws. This provided me with a good amount of light now. We went on after the man. I could hear his feet rustling the grass as he ran. Soon, we came to a cliff. He couldn't do anything now. So he turned and I finally got a good look at him. He was wearing all black. Black suit, black tie, black shirt, black gloves, black boots, and black pants. He had on an all black mask. The only thing on him that wasn't black was the white hourglass symbol on his mask. He must be a high ranking official in Team Cataclysm.

"Seems you have me, boy" he said. "In that case let me introduce myself. I am Master Black. I lead the Unova branch of Team Cataclysm. Do not fear me at the moment, though, for I am only her to do reconnaissance of the area, I have brought no underlings with me."

"Team Cataclysm scum is still Team Cataclysm scum. I'm going to defeat you and make sure you never mess with me again." I said

"Well, if that's how you feel, boy, then we shall do battle. Go Beheeyem."

I couldn't see much, but I could make out a brown pokemon with a strange shaped head. It had long arms, each with only three fingers, one red, one yellow, one green, and short, stubby legs. It had strange black markings on its head and light-brown dots along its chest, kinda like a trench coat.

"All right, it's your time to shine Gardevoir!"

"Beheeyem use Psychic!"

"Gardevoir, Psychic, too!"

It was hard to see, but both Pokémon were cloaked in a blue aura. They were both lifted into the air, and they both appeared to be in pain. Both shot down, and both reappeared, ready to fight.

"Gardevoir, Hypnosis!"

"Beheyeem, dodge, and then use Thunderbolt!"

Gardevoir let out a faint pulse. Beheeyem expertly dodged it and then let out a bolt of electricity. It hit Gardevoir head on. Gardevoir got up, still determined to fight despite the damage she sustained.

"Gardevoir, use Shadow Ball!"

"Beheeyem, use Synchronoise!"

Gardevoir sent out a dark ball of energy and fired it at Beheeyem. Beheeyem let out a loud noise that really hurt Gardevoir as the ball collided with Beheeyem.

Two dark orbs then came and hit Beheeyem and Gardevoir. There was no trainer command, so where it came from, I had no idea. The dark orbs made contact with the two Pokémon, and they were instantly put to sleep.

"Ooooh, yes! I see we have disturbed his territory! Maybe I can get ahead of schedule by capturing him now!" exclaimed Master Black.

"Wha- who- is he?" I said

"The mighty Darkarai has come to us! It shall be Team Cataclysm's soon!"

Then, the shadow pokemon Kai had described earlier appeared. Master Black prepared a poké ball for capture. He then sent out a powerful looking Volcarona. I sent had Blaziken ready to fight Master Black off. Darkarai had other plans.

Darkarai appeared behind the two of us. We both turned to see him readying two more of those dark orbs he used to put our psychic Pokémon to sleep. He launched them at us. Master Black expertly dodged it. That couldn't be said about me, though. I had no idea what going on. So, I foolishly let the attack hit me. I started to fall. I fell to the ground with a loud thud. I had been asleep long before then. Since the attack made contact with me, in fact. Then, the nightmares began.

A/N: Hey, hey fans! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! And remember, I'm still taking Area Leader OC requests, just PM me! Also, I'd love to hear what y'all think about the story, any feedback or anything please!