Darkness Requires Light

I was innocent once.

We all were. We're born and life is good. In our minds when we're young, nothing can ever go wrong. Unlike most of my kind, I actually carried those kinds of thoughts with me throughout my life.

I'm a Darkrai, but I may as well have been a Whismur for how fearful I was. Due to this, I was never really liked by my parents. When they went out to feed off of nightmares, I stayed behind, feeling fine without the extra power. I never took part in it, despite how disappointed my parents always were and how much they told me that I'd never be of use to our family.

After a few years of that, I got fed up and left. I took off without a single look back. They didn't care, and they still don't do this day. They could have found me if they wanted to. They never did. I finally settled down on Newmoon Island, an isolated piece of land off the coast of Canalave City in Sinnoh.

As life went on, more and more trainers tried their hand at catching me. I sent each and every one of them packing before they threw a single ball. Not only did my surprise attacks wipe out the Pokemon, they pretty much scarred the trainers. Some were tougher than others, but each of them shared a trait that I couldn't stand: cowardice. As lonely as I was, trapped on this lifeless island, I wasn't going to waste my life on a weakling.

Then along came this trainer that I never understood. Her name was Fantina. No matter how many times I knocked out her team or snuck up behind her, she would never give up until she used every Pokeball in that bag. She'd leave, and the very next day, right on time, she'd be back again. Her constant persisting finally gained my respect, and I decided to humor her, allowing her to catch me.

Yes, the next few years were fun. At least, I think they were years. It sure felt like it. Maybe they were months…even weeks. I lost track of time. For the first time in my life, I had a friend. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a purpose other than trapping people in eternal nightmares.

Of course, it didn't last. The so-called perfect world in I live in is no fairytale, as much as the inhabitants believe so. I hear people of faraway lands long to live in our world, but in reality, it's no different than theirs. If the real world wasn't the way it is, we wouldn't have fairytales, would we?

The time I spent with Fantina weakened me, made me bring down the barriers I used against trainers. I thought our journey would last forever. It didn't.

I remember the day I noticed it. She wasn't her usual smiley, cocky self. She was pale, looking sick and just plain…lifeless. I asked her if she was okay and, as everyone does, answered yes. (I can use telepathy, which is something that most trainers don't know.) I don't know why they bother lying when the answer is staring at you plain in the face. Then again, I don't know why we bother to ask, either.

I could even sense her illness radiating off of her. The heat her body gave off was higher than normal, much higher. She started vomiting, and as much as I would have loved to split right there, I stayed by her side, scared of what would happen if I didn't.

It went on like this for months, almost as if the sickness was taunting us, dragging the pain out for fun. She quit her job as Gym leader and even went to see Professor Rowan (more like he came to her. She could barely move, let alone make it to Sandgem Town.) He had no explanation for it but was able to determine that she had about a month or so to live. My world came crashing down the day she died, the shred of hope I was clinging to finally disappearing.

The people of Hearthome made a big mistake when they voted to release me back into the wild for capture again. I didn't want a new trainer. The only human I could tolerate was gone in the snap of a finger. I didn't want to be weakened again. I let loose all of the rage I had been storing my entire life in one huge rampage.

As I watched city after city crumble before my eyes, watched person after person slump lifeless into an eternal slumber, I felt nothing. I should have felt proud. It was my real meaning of being alive. Being captured doesn't alter a Pokemon's purpose of living. We all have instincts that last forever. But I felt nothing at all.

I still feel nothing to this day. I'm alone again, except this time I don't have a choice between being alone or not. I'm trapped forever in this gray world where nothing will ever live again.

Until the next victim comes along.