Cain sat on the ground while Darkrai floated beside him, slowly recounting everything he had experienced.
Just as Cain had anticipated, the Mismagius he had previously captured had, in the past—or rather, in its original form—been a Darkrai. Compared to the Darkrai Cain had captured now, the two could barely be considered siblings.
Both were born in an unknown chaotic corner, within equally unknown space and time. As for memories of their birth, Darkrai said he did not remember them.
He only knew that from the moment they were born, they lived together: the elder brother was responsible for fighting and protecting, while the sister relied more on her innate talent—the ability to create dreams—to help Pokémon that might be in danger.
Because Darkrai naturally possessed the ability to perceive, to a certain extent, the arrival of danger and disasters, whenever they appeared somewhere to protect people or Pokémon, they were often regarded as the very cause of the calamity. In that regard, they were very similar to Absol, the Disaster Pokémon.
The brother grew stronger and stronger through battle after battle, while the sister pushed her unique talent for creating dreams to an extremely high level. If she wished, she could make all living beings in an entire city fall into the same dream, whether it was a nightmare or a beautiful dream.
But both Darkrai were kind by nature. Although they were called gods of nightmares, the dreams they created were usually peaceful and beautiful.
Thus, the two worked together and appeared side by side in places where disasters occurred: the brother dealt with defeating the humans or Pokémon causing destruction, while the sister soothed the terrified humans and Pokémon through dreams.
Although they were not understood by others, they themselves lived quite peacefully, doing what they believed to be something very meaningful.
No one knew how long this cooperation lasted. Their strength increased little by little, and their innate potential allowed them to focus solely on growth without worrying about major obstacles.
But later on, the situation changed.
By accident, they became involved in the Giratina incident, when Giratina was wreaking havoc in the Pokémon world.
The elder Darkrai brother engaged in a fierce battle with Giratina, but Giratina was Giratina: as a true legendary Pokémon, the Dragon of the Underworld, its power was truly terrifying.
Moreover, Giratina specialized in strange and sinister attacks. If Darkrai had not been a Dark-type Pokémon that countered the Ghost type, it probably would not have been able to hold out for so long.
While they were fighting, Darkrai's sister did not forget her responsibility and created dreams to calm the ordinary humans and Pokémon who had been frightened.
But it was precisely because of this that Giratina took an interest in their abilities, wishing for them to become its subordinates and help it spread nightmares, allowing darkness to infiltrate even deeper into everyone's hearts.
However, that went against the original intentions of the two Darkrai, so they rejected it without hesitation.
That day, both the brother and the sister were gravely injured by Giratina's overwhelming power.
Some humans who witnessed the scene felt neither pity nor compassion for them.
From their point of view, both Giratina, the Dragon of the Underworld, and Darkrai, the god of nightmares, were evil Pokémon; it did not matter who lost—either outcome was good for humanity.
Thus, the Darkrai were imprisoned by Giratina, in the hope that they would change their minds.
That imprisonment lasted countless years.
Later, Giratina was expelled from the Pokémon world by Arceus, and the Darkrai were completely forgotten by everyone.
As the years passed, the difference in endurance between the two Darkrai became apparent. The sister was the first to be unable to endure it any longer and turned into a newly born Misdreavus, losing all her memories.
The elder Darkrai brother watched his sister disappear before his very eyes; the pain he felt was easy to imagine.
More than once, thoughts of seeking death arose in his heart, but his resentment and desire for revenge against Giratina grew uncontrollably, becoming the sole goal that kept him alive.
During those long years, he came to understand everything.
Humans were a race full of innate flaws; especially after witnessing too many schemes and deceptions, he completely lost faith in them.
Until Cain appeared before him once again, bringing with him a fully grown Mismagius.
That touched the deepest and most sensitive chord in Darkrai's heart, and that was why he agreed to become Cain's Pokémon.
However, at the beginning it was more of a superficial attitude. It was not until that day that he truly accepted Cain's existence and the fact that Cain was his trainer.
Fighting alone was far too exhausting. If he could find a trustworthy companion, it would undoubtedly be much better than fighting alone as a single Pokémon.
After listening to Darkrai's story, Cain could not help but sigh with emotion.
There was nothing more painful than watching the most important person to you leave, powerless to do anything.
Cain did not know how to comfort Darkrai, but seeing that he had reached this point and could face Mismagius, he believed that he had already accepted that outcome.
He gently patted Darkrai on the shoulder and said nothing.
Sometimes, silence speaks louder than a thousand words.
At that moment, the relationship between a human and a Pokémon reached an initial harmony. That was the state that should exist between a trainer and their Pokémon.
"Rest for a while and get familiar with your current body. From now on, you're no longer fighting alone. Giratina? It's nothing more than that. I've seen more than one or two top-tier legendary Pokémon. You just have to fight!" Cain said with a smile, as if Giratina were not a powerful opponent.
Hearing this, Darkrai was stunned for a moment and then nodded firmly.
"Besides... who knows if all this mess happening right now has nothing to do with him? He's a guy with an extremely simple goal: to destroy the Pokémon world, even if his methods are innumerable," Cain murmured, narrowing his eyes.
The apparent calm but inner chaos currently reigning in the Pokémon world was not something only Cain could sense.
Many others felt it as well.
The storm was approaching.
He stored Darkrai in the Master Ball, left the alternate space, and Cain collapsed fully onto the bed in the room. In less than a minute, the sound of his deep, steady breathing could be heard.
After three consecutive days of high-intensity work, even he found it hard to endure.
A brief rest was necessary; the challenges and problems to come would only grow greater.
The split within the Kanto League had nearly shaken all the Leagues of the Pokémon world.
The Sacred Church was becoming increasingly active; no one knew exactly what its objective was, but it would certainly interfere in the Kanto League's division.
And on top of that... Team Rocket's Mewtwo was about to be completed.
Everything gave the feeling that events were piling up and erupting all at once.
(End of chapter)