Chapter 11, everybody, and my first update of the year! In which Clefable quotes the Bible, Meowth quotes Bill Cosby, and this week on Versus has Darkrai versus a pink horde….

XT3100, thanks for the review! Yes indeed….

CandlitNights, thanks for the review! Don't worry about it—life happens. I am! I'm studying Online Education—which is great, since there are studies about the benefits of fan fiction to native English speakers and English as a Foreign Language; it means that fan fiction is actually good for you. :D I did! Thank you. This is true. And yes, poor Lenny. XD Thank you, glad you like those—me too….It could go either way, honestly. Me neither—I already have the general idea of his backstory scripted out, so that'll be fun when it comes up. Don't worry, I noticed that too—Misty and Brock will meet up with Darkrai, rest assured. Thanks again, and I hope to continue to please!

Crestilia, thanks for the review! Probably a wise sentiment….

Hunter Redflame, thanks for the review! Yes…and yes. This is true. And thank you, glad you like the Clefable—me too…they've been fun to figure out. Wow, really? I hope to continue to please then! :D

Thor94, thanks for the review! We should be finding that out this chapter….

Yana5, thanks for the review! Right back at you! :D

Chermayne, thanks for the review! Glad you like it, and I hope to continue to please! :D

Vismur, thanks for the review! Yes….And yes, Clefable are useful when they're not being portents of doom. :) Yes…right now Pikachu is staying under duress, but it seems he's starting to warm to Ash a little. Yes—I watched some of the early episodes to get a feel for this fic, and what I saw—yowch. It doesn't pay to be the voice of reason, it seems….

Pokeevee57, thanks for the review! Yes…and thank you, I'm glad you liked it! Right back at you! :D

Anonymous Person, thanks for the review! Yes, well….Possibly…but I don't guarantee anything. Considering other people have, I think you can, so no worries. :)

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

A Bug's Life © 1998 Pixar ("It's a rock")

And now, for something completely different:

And now, a public service announcement from the Kalosian Pokémon League: Whoever's teaching the Gourgeist Justin Bieber songs, please stop.

The three stooges didn't last long.

Darkrai landed in the center of the cavern, quite pleased with himself. He dusted himself off as he basked in his own impressiveness.

"You bring disaster."

Darkrai spun around to see one of those pink menaces staring at him. "What?" he asked, not comprehending. Of course the airheaded Fairy wouldn't see that he had just saved their annoying little lives.

"You flee the sins of your past," the Clefable said, raising its hands.

More pink aggravations poured in.

"But the wages of sin is death," the Clefable continued. "Your reign of terror ends here, Last Shadow. Your shadow will no longer taint the region, or the boy."

"You've been eating Paras mushrooms," Darkrai guessed—right now, he had to play it cool. He was a Dark type surrounded by Fairy types—he had to get out of here.

"Destroy him!" the Clefable commanded.

Darkrai went for the obvious exit, crouching down on his thin legs and launching himself straight for the hole in the ceiling—

He felt himself slow down—getting heavy—

Gravity. They were using Gravity.

On the plus side, he wasn't a Flying type, nor did he have the ability Levitate—it wouldn't affect him as badly. But a cavern-full of Clefairy all using the move at once was enough to crush anything. He was dead if he touched the ground again.

So he went for a different approach, focusing on absorbing the gloom so he could release it as Dark Pulse—but no dice. The cavern was open to the full moon, and the peculiar rocks reflected the light so there was no shadow in the area. Plan—he needed a new plan.

He heard chanting—Lucky Chant. And then something over that—

Murderer!

What?

Evil! Corruption! Pale shadow of the moon!

"Nggh," Darkrai growled, covering his ears. Disarming Voice—he should have known. And now some of them were starting to sing—they were going to drag him down, squish him against the rocks, and then pummel him until he was a grease smear.

Stupid Disarming Voice worming its way into his ears—because if that move was making it, then so would their Sing—and he couldn't fall asleep now, what with their calling for his blood—

Wait—

So stupid.

He drifted down, down, down—until he was nearly touching the ground, struggling the whole way—they were redoubling their efforts, they almost had him—

Or so they thought.

Because now, so close to the ground, he finally had an advantage over them.

He had a shadow.

He extended his power straight down, seizing the shadow and drawing out all of its power, and generally resulting in a giant wave of darkness that crashed into the pink balls of fluff.

He nearly rocketed straight out of the cavern once Gravity lost its hold, but he managed to flip around and drift back in, searching the sleeping bodies for one in particular.

He found the Clefable and entered its dream, planning on making its nightmare very personal.

Darkrai was severely startled upon entry.

He had never been in a nightmare like this.

No…not true….Xatus and Espurrs had a habit of dreaming of the apocalypse. It was depressing, to be honest.

He spotted the Clefable—not crying, or shaking, or anything else—simply standing there, watching Kanto burn from its perch on Mount Moon.

It turned to him slowly, deliberately—it knew he was going to single it out.

"This is what will happen," it declared. "You've brought disaster upon us all."

"This is why you're morbid," Darkrai declared. "You've been staring at the moon too long."

The Clefable shook its head. "This started five years ago. Five years ago, a shadow fell upon Kanto. Five years ago, a boy chosen to save the regions fell under the shadow's taint. We are now doomed to what you see before you."

"I'm sorry, do I look like I speak idiot?"

The Clefable looked at him fully now, beseeching. "I beg you—leave the boy alone. There is still time to undo what has been done. Your being here, your following the boy, has upset a carefully planned destiny. I know why you follow the boy—but I beg you, consider the future. Do you want to see the world burn because of you? Your actions are destroying the world!"

Darkrai struck him, shattering the nightmare.

He stood over the Clefable, now sleeping a dreamless sleep. The others were mewling—he wondered if they were seeing the same nightmare.

His chest was heaving, he realized—the stupid pink fluffball had shaken him up.

A carefully planned destiny?

Who on earth would plan a destiny around a village idiot?

I know why you follow the boy.

That was a trick, considering he didn't even know.

No. It was all just a Fairy trick. The stupid pink things were notorious for that sort of thing.

He glared down at the immobile Pokémon.

"Moon worshipers," he sneered.

Somehow, that didn't make him feel better.

The Clefairy ran them out of the caves before dashing back in.

"Well," Ash said finally, after they all had dusted themselves off. "We got through Mount Moon in record time."

"Yeah, that was weird," Misty said, peering back into the caves. "Did you hear that weird laugh?"

"I did indeed," Seymour said. "I must go back—I have to make sure the Clefairy are all right."

At that, a Clefairy appeared in the cave mouth and spread its arms.

"Clefairy," it said definitively.

"Did we just get kicked out?" Ash asked.

Clefairy nodded, then sketched in the dirt. They crowded around to see what looked like Clefairy fighting a big monster, if one squinted and was feeling generous. Otherwise, it was just a couple of circles with lines to a big rock.

"I see," Seymour said sagely, nodding.

"That makes one of us," Misty muttered.

"The Clefairy are fighting off the intruders and do not want to have to worry about accidentally injuring us. Therefore, they herded us out to safety."

The Clefairy nodded.

"I guess we just have to take it at that," Ash said. "Thanks for letting us watch, though, Clefairy."

"Clefairy," the Clefairy said, pointing at Ash and then waving him closer.

"It seems to want to give you something," Seymour said.

Ash glanced at Misty and Brock, who both shrugged. He stooped down so he was on its level.

The Clefairy gave him a rock shaped like a crescent moon.

"Thanks," Ash said, accepting it and weighing it in his hand. "It's…a rock?"

"It seems to be a variation of Moon Stone," Seymour observed. "You should feel honored—Clefairy do not impart gifts to just anyone."

"Thank you very much?"

"Clefairy," the Clefairy said, placing its paws on Ash's hand.

Beware the shadow.

"Huh?" Ash noised, stunned—did the Clefairy just talk?

But the Clefairy had already gone to sit on a rock beside Seymour, who sat next to it.

"I will stay here for now," Seymour declared. "When it is safe, Clefairy may allow me back in to continue my studies."

"They do seem to like you," Brock observed.

"It seems to be so. There is a clearing down the road," Seymour said, pointing. "I wouldn't go much farther past that before daybreak, however—the roads are treacherous at night."

"Why don't we stay here a bit then?" Misty suggested, sitting down on a rock; Brock followed suit. "You could tell us more about the Clefairy—like what were they doing? It looked like dancing."

"It is dancing! You see, I have a theory about where Clefairy come from…."

Ash, meanwhile, was too focused on the Clefairy's gift to pay them much mind. He sat cross-legged on the ground, turning the rock over and over in his hands, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Beware the shadow. What did that mean? It didn't mean Darkrai, did it?

"Pika chu."

Ash looked to see his starter sitting next to him, one paw on Ash's knee. "Hey, buddy."

"Pika," Pikachu responded.

"I don't know," Ash said, looking at the rock again. "What do you think? 'Beware the shadow.'"

Pikachu made a face before shaking his head vehemently, stopping just short of knocking the rock out of Ash's hand.

"Yeah," Ash said, scratching Pikachu between the ears—he had discovered that the electric mouse enjoyed it immensely. "That's what I thought too."

It was nearly daybreak when Team Rocket finally made their way back to Mount Moon.

"I'm having a thought," James announced.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jessie asked—rhetorically, Meowth felt.

"I think we should patent that mode of travel. I mean, look how much ground we covered! Blasting off could be the next big thing!"

"I think the people who get shot out of cannons at the circus may have beat you to it."

"That's where branding comes in."

"Guys," Meowth announced, stopping. "We've got company."

A Clefable stood in front of them, looking distinctly worse for wear.

"You are Team Rocket?" it asked wearily.

"Yes?" Meowth answered slowly—he wasn't sure if the Clefairy and Clefable had a good opinion of them at the moment.

At his response, the Clefable waved. Nearly a dozen more pink Pokémon came forward—a few Clefable and a handful of Clefairy.

"These are some of our best fighters," the Clefable declared. "Your motives may not be pure, but necessity has found us a common enemy. These fairies will join your team in order to destroy the threat that overshadows us all."

"What, you mean that black thing?" Meowth asked, struggling to keep his voice even and his expression appropriate—right now, on the inside, he was cheering insanely.

The Clefable nodded. "Ultima Umbra—the Last Shadow. It must be stopped—it threatens the very existence of Kanto. Nay, it threatens the existence of the entire world!"

Okay, that was pretty heavy…."Wait—you know about this thing?"

"I do indeed."

"Well then, what is it? Is it a Pokémon? What type is it?"

"It is…the pitch-black legendary," the Clefable intoned. Meowth felt like a weight was settling on him and wondered if the Clefable wasn't using Gravity. "The pure dark type, bringer of nightmares….It is…."

Meowth leaned forward, afraid he'd miss the last bit.

"Darkrai," the Clefable declared.