[OOC & Sign-Ups]Darkness Rising

[Crazy Linoone]

One hundred and eight million years ago, a battle was fought, the single battle that destined the fate of all pokemon for millions of years to come. Arceus, the creator of the Light, and Giratina, the ruler of the Darkness, could not decide on who should be the ruler of the New World. Arceus argued that he should, for he is all that is just and right; he is the supreme being of the Light, the goodness of the world. Giratina replied that he is the one who should, as he created the safety of the darkness and a time when creatures could rest; he was the lord of the Darkness, the time when everyone could find peace and solitude when they want to. The battle waged over the land and the sea and through all the dimensions. At first, Giratina was winning. His Army of the Night, lead by the seven loyal Lords of
Darkness, fought alongside him, stretching darkness across the lands.

Yet Arceus wasn't about to give up. He called upon his creations, the Creatures of the Light, and urged them forth. Slowly but steadily, Giratina's Army lost ground, for their numbers were too small, and no matter how diligently they fought, they could not push back the wave of Light. Finally, Arceus managed to deal a critical strike to Giratina, and the Lord of Darkness fell. Tired and injured, Giratina could do nothing as Arceus called upon his army and sealed him inside another dimension. However, before his strength could give out, Giratina hissed one last prophecy:

On the one hundred and eighth night, the God of the Night will eat the Red Moon, and Darkness will rise again.

With that, the war was over and Light covered the lands. To prevent Giratina from coming back to power, Arceus destroyed the seven Lords of Darkness and sealed their undying spirit inside stones, then scattered them all over the world. Around every stone, he placed several Creatures of Light to guard the stones. Then, to secure his power, he cursed the creatures in the Army of Darkness, making them weak and powerless in the Light, and branded them with Fear, Hatred, Despair, Greed, and all that is Bad in the world so his creatures of Light would know them and shun them. Yet, tired from the battle, he was not powerful enough to destroy Darkness completely, and thus gentle Night still escaped, and the Army of Darkness could still roam freely in the Night.

And there we waited for one hundred and eight million years. One hundred and eight million years of hiding, running, scraping food and barely getting by. One hundred and eight million years of pain. One hundred and eight million years of hoping, waiting, for that single sign.

And now the time has come.

As the eclipse slowly eats away at the red moon, it was time to rise up again, to defeat Arceus, who had unjustly punished our kind. It was time to revive the seven Lords of Darkness and spread darkness across the land. It was time to reclaim what Arceus had taken away from us, to reclaim what was rightfully ours. It will be a perilous battle, for everyone will be against us, brainwashed by millenniums of Arceus's rule ... but will you join us?



Rules and General Information:

- For those of you who care, this RP is set in a human-less AU. We will start in Johto and travel to different regions from there.
- Follow the usual forum rules; if you don't know what they are, you shouldn't be here
- Please try to keep this semi-lit. This means: no chat-speak, one-liners, etc. Remember, quality over quantity! If you really can't post more than one sentence without ruining whatever effect you want, then just post one sentence.
- Use spell check. If you see those red squiggly lines, don't just ignore them; if your browser's nice enough to point them out for you, you might as well as fix them.
- I'm going to trust that you read the rules and not give you a secret word. Yay.
- You can do whatever you want in this RP; just remember to follow good RP etiquette
- This means no character control, godmodding (being all powerful, making all attacks miss, etc.), and taking control of the main plot without permission for example, making Arceus suddenly appear and attack all the pokemon).
Side-plots are fine and encouraged.
- Mary Sues will be fed to hungry Sharpedo.


Form:

[B]Name:[/B] So people can know how to call you
[B]Age:[/B] So people don't accidentally refer to you as "little child" when you're 50 years old
[B]Gender:[/B] So people can talk to each other properly without having to use he/she/it every other sentence.
[B]Species:[/B] Any Pokemon that is at least partial Poison, Dark, or Ghost type. A few non Poison/Dark/Ghosts will be allowed, but only if you have a really, really good reason.

[B]Appearance:[/B] Don't just put "a regular Hoppip". Describe the little quirks your pokemon have; for example, does your Hoppip has a slightly ripped leaf from a battle? Put that here.

[B]Personality:[/B] Be very detailed. How does your pokemon interact with others? What are its likes and dislikes? Why? You can combine this with the History section if you want.

[B]History:[/B] What happened to your pokemon in the past? You may describe family relations and such here, too.

[B]Other:[/B] Anything else you want me to know?


People who are accepted:
- Storm, Earth, and Fire/Meletios/Murkrow
- Flareth/Ariados/Iles
- FMC/Banette/Miss Melpomene Murder
- Blastoise/Grimer/Lunoso
- Psymon/Nidorino/Holochinse
- Kusari/Azurill (Banette)/Phren
- Crazy Linoone/Absol/Akabari
- Xaldin/Weavile/Vanxir
- Cryptica/Houndour/Lucidia
- Darksong/Mismagius/Requiem
- Lars the Turtwig/Weavile/Nicolaus
- Exo-Raikou/Spiritomb/Ocent
- Arylett/Mightyena/Arkra
- shadow_lugia/Seviper/Draxwea
- uber charizard/Umbreon/Fenos
- BlazieAura/Driftloon/Flora
- Chaon/Nidoking/Eron'ta (Er for short)
- Kali the Flygon/Seviper/Sabertooth
- Male Gardevoir/Weavile/Attis
- Dragon/Sneasel/Shari

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

Name: Lunoso

Age: 19 in whatever Grimer years are.

Gender: Male

Species: Grimer

Appearance: Like a typical Grimer, Luno is a large glob of poisonous, noxious goop. Due to his rather fine control of the mass of ooze that is his being, the Poison-type almost never keeps the same shape, expanding or shrinking as need be. He's rather darker-colored than many Grimer, and generally hovers a few inches above the ground (explained in History).

Personality: Luno is quite the jokester, and loves brewing up terrible puns that are about as noxious as himself. The Grimer is otherwise quiet, entering serious conversation only when he needs to. He has a rather 'sit there and take it' battle style, absorbing or forming around most attacks. He's been a nomad his entire life, and does rather well on his own.

History: Luno split of from his parents as a single entity, with no siblings. He wandered about Johto, leaving a trail of sickened plants in his wake. At some point he met a skin-and-bone bald man who taught him how to levitate. With this new knowledge in tow, the noxious Pokémon set out again, wanderer that he is. Nothing of much interest has happened to him since then.

 

[Flareth]

Name: Iles

Age: 15 in Ariados years

Gender: Female

Species: Ariados

Appearance: An Ariados is a giant reddish-colored spider. On her body, there are two big black stripes and a patten that looks like a face. Her legs are yellow with dark purple stripes. Two barbs stick out from her midsection, with the same coloration as her legs. She has a horn coming out of her forehead, but it is a bit larger than the average Ariados horn. She's a bit smaller than the average Ariados. Her barbs on her rear and on her body are a bit bigger. She has purple eyes. She has a scar over her left eye after she had to fight for territory with another Ariados.

Personality: She is a sarcastic, rash person. She never really had common sense about talking to others. In speaking, she is awkward and says things she doesn't mean, which drives off many a Pokemon. She always speaks her thoughts, no matter how awkward it would be. She will often rush into battle without thinking of the consequences. She seems to do that a lot. She only had one friend because of this tendency. She has a fear of water.

History: She had three older brothers and two younger sisters. She never knew her father; he left her mother as soon as he heard about the pregnancy. Her only friend was a male Houndour named Haze, which she befriended when she was 4. When she was 11, Haze drowned in a pond and died. No one knew how he got in the water. Iles couldn't take it. She ran away from home to try and escape the truth that her friend was gone.

Other: Nope....

 

[Ven]

Name: Vanxir
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Species: Scyther

Appearance: Vanxir resembles a black, human-sized praying mantis. It has large, blade-like forearms and a pair of red-colored wings. Its head, and feet are reptilian rather than insect in shape. He also has piercing red eyes.

Personality: Vanxir is... cruel and sadistic due to a little run-in with a few Pokémon. He is rather distant towards others, and will not show mercy, friend or foe. He despises to be tricked, and will kill whoever does that, to him or others. He is sarcastic, and takes a long time to build trust to anyone. At times, he may enter a berserk state of mind. In this "mode" he will attack all with vicious savagery, and with no mercy. Is also a master of strategy.

History: When born, Vanxir was born black, instead of green, and has red undersides and red eyes. At a young age he was teased and bullied relentlessly. But especially 3 certain Scythers. One day he vowed to do horrible, gory, and disturbing things to them. So he trained relentlessly and one day, he challenged them all to 1vs1 consecutive duels. On the third match, he was easily beating him, so the first 2 got up, ignoring th pain, they attacked him. And for humiliating them, they decided to get rid of him... for good. But he still wanted to kill them, so he prayed, knowing that it would be fruitless. But he was heard, and answered. By Darkrai. He liked the way the Scyther thought. The carnage he imagined, the death, the destruction! He granted him more power. Vanxir, unknown of his new benefactor, suddenly was surged with dark power, which he used to defeat them, but then they ran away. Nevertheless, he smirked, with the new power he gained. Unfortunately, the new powers were not meant for a Scyther, and that it somewhat affected his mentality, causing him to go insane at times. Also, he got more and more indulged in his new dark powers, eventually, he forgot about his flying "side", and just increased his Dark powers, causing him to to become a Bug/Dark Pokémon.

In time, he became the leader of his swarm. The other Scythers didn't really care. His swarm was based on one thing. To rise through the ranks. And the only way to do that is to kill the 'mon on top. A swift slash to the neck or a secret toxic to his/her food. Either way, it was not frowned upon by his society. In fact, it was encouraged! But they are not without justice. If there was a clear witness, then you must be punished. However, they only accept eyewitness accounts, not evidence. Vanxir saw a major flaw in his society, but did not question it. In fact, that is why he is what he is today (minus the fact he got a gift from Darkrai). From his society, he learns to be secluded so there is no chance of being usurped. Also, his swarm is a war faring one. Often challenging other tribes. From this be becomes a master of strategy.

But, he eventually left, to find his benefactor, and to give him/her the true thanks he/she deserves. However, his swarm despises "quitters" and those who leave their society. So now, he is forever shunned from his people.

Other: Ya... this might be a little stretch, but it's OK if you don't approve this, I have another character waiting in the wings. Also, Vanxir gets to use Crunch and Payback, but not Air Slash and Wing Attack.

 

[shadow_lugia]

Name: Draxwea

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Species: Seviper

Appearance: Draxwea's colors are enhanced, for lack of a better word that I can think of. The purple, yellow, and red are all very bright and vibrant, and her gray body is pitch black. Her eyes are also not the normal red, but bright yellow.

Personality: Draxwea is very prone to jealousy, and almost never passes up a chance to take something that she covets (and she covets a lot of things). If confronted, she'll usually give it back for a short while, only to steal it again the next time she gets a chance. She is also very proud, and will almost always take on a challenge. She holds grudges for practically anything. She is very ambitious, and is very determined to get a high rank in the Army of the Night, and to achieve any other goals that she already has or may occur to her sometime. Her emotions, like her colors, are extraordinarily intense, and she seems to be incapable of feeling only a little of anything.

History: There is an ancient legend of the battle one million and eight years ago, one that every Seviper is taught. The legend states that the Seviper were loyal, high-ranking servants under Giratina, but the Zangoose of the Light came to meet them in battle. When the battle ended, the Seviper only stopped fighting when Arceus forced them away, but they still remembered, and still yearned to defeat the Zangoose. They were cast out only because they were night creatures, whose gray scales blended with shadows and hid them from their prey. Their descendants were taught to hate the light, and to remember the battle that spanned millenia, and never let a Zangoose pass within your sight unharmed. Draxwea took these stories to heart, and decided to prove herself by joining the Army of the Night, like her ancestors before her, and vowed to kill every Zangoose in the Army of the Light.

Other: I hope my bit of fan-made mythology is okay here.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

Name: Meletios

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Species: Murkrow

Appearance: While appearing to be a normal-looking Murkrow from a distance, Meletios has a dull silver colored right eye, as opposed to the normal red his left eye is. Above this eye, on the brim of his hat-like crest that a feather or two is missing, creating a little nick. Also notable is a little green ribbon tied around his left leg.

Personality: Meletios is crazed. He is quite talkative and others might get convinced his favorite hobby is spouting nonsense. Meletios is often dismissive of this viewpoint and refers to whatever he's saying as personal philosophical musings, or putting his opinion out, no matter how non-topical it is. The only sort of laughter he seems to be capable of is an obnoxious cackle. Fleet of foot, Meletios is used to running away due to his kleptomanical tendencies, a species trait. Though he may seem to be quick to flee, if the enemy is the legions of Arceus, he won't ever truly run away. Just strategically retreat, not that his sense of strategy is sound.

History: Oddly enough, Meletios' father, at least he's deduced based on some of his powers, was a Xatu. While he doesn't know the circumstances behind this, he isn't in a particular hurry to find out, even if he sometimes seems proud of this heritage.

However, he wasn't raised by his mother. Or anyone really related to him. Instead, the first thing he saw, the first people he knew, and the folks that raised him, were a tribe of Tyranitar. While out of place, nobody ever treated him badly, in fact, he was treated quite well as part of the community, performing tasks the others couldn't do. Meletios never even saw members of his own species for the longest time.

It all came to a sudden end, though, when the tribe was found by a gang of Aggron, and just about everyone was slain in the name of Arceus. Except Meletios, who slipped away quietly, vowing vengeance. However, he had nowhere to go, little to eat, and no one to turn to. After some time, hunger and exhaustion caught up, and Meletios collapsed, convinced of his death.

He awoke at a camp populated by other Pokemon of the darkness, though no other Murkrow. Meletios asked around and discovered that he was carried there by a Honchkrow who then took off. Everyone else discovered his personality had become just a little frayed after the massacre. Meletios now seeks this Honchkrow, convinced he/she is some sort of 'figure of destiny' in his mission to vanquish Arceus, 'as Giratina commanded him to.'

Other: From his father, Meletios has some psychic power, in the form of telekinesis. In battle, he is able to use Psychic, Psycho Shift, and Confuse Ray.

He is working on the future sight, saying that he must 'figure out his right eye' somehow.

His ability is insomnia.

 

[Exo-Raikou]

I'm going to reserve, since I can't think of a decent profile at the time

 

[Dave Strider]

Name: Holochinse (Holoc for short)
Age: 13
Gender: Male
Species: Nidorino

Appearance: Holochinse is in most ways a normal Nidorino, albeit a few differences. First, the horns on his head are slightly longer than on other members of his species, about 1.2 cm longer to be precise. Secondly, Holoc is slightly tubby, just so much that you'd notice it if looked at him properly. Lastly, Holoc has a large bit of his right ear torn of from a battle with a tough Luxio.

Personality: Holochinse is quite outspoken, if you've pissed him of, you'll know about it. He speaks his mind thoroughly and frequently. He likes to start arguments and is stubborn to the point of never giving up an idea, even if proven quite ridiculous. He loves to battle and never back down from a fight unless seriously injured..

History: Holochinse was born on Route 35 and raised there until evolved. He learned many things from his family there, such as how to fight, how to scare away predators and which plant he should eat and not. He wasn't to interested in plants or predators, but loved to fight. He evolved one day during a fight with a Luxio. He won the fight, but a large part of his right ear was bitten of.

After he evolved, he was forced to leave and start a family somewhere. Holoc wandered Johto, looking for mates, but mostly looking for fights. One day, he found the Darkness Pokemon Clan. He became interested in their scheme to vanquish Arceus on behalf of Giratina. He joined them almost instantly and has been traveling them with them ever since.

Other: No.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

What fun my little trickster Grimer will have with Vanxir.

 

[Barubu]

Name: Fenos
Age: 11
Gender: male
Species: Umbreon

Appearance: His ring glow bright gold at any sense of danger. He is 4ft. tall and 5ft long from his head to his tail.

Personality: Fenos is kind and open to other Pokemon, but doesn't tolerate distrustful Pokemon. he loves to stay awake most of the time, but in the light,his rings stop glowing.

History:Fenos actually doesn't know about his past. In the war, he suffered from amnesia and is searching for answers. He believes that there was a ritual in which he was forcefully evolved.

 

[Crazy Linoone]

Blastoise
Besides the fact that you should read the first line under General Information a bit more carefully, it's pretty good. Fix that and I'll accept you.


Flareth
Hm, can you put a little more detail? How is she sarcastic and rash? How does she treat other pokemon she didn't know before?

Also, try describing her appearance as if I've never seen an Ariados before.


Xaldin
Hm, I'm afraid that I can't accept that... Besides the fact that half of his history seems extremely familiar, type-changing is a little bit of a stretch. Also, please try to have more complete sentences from now on.

shadow_lugia
Reserved. You're supposed to be part of the army, looking to revive the Seven Lords; I apologize for not making it clear.

And, yes, they are, in a vague way, based after the Seven Deadly Sins. The number seven was determined before I realized that there's seven deadly sins. So, I suppose it's just a coincidence.


Storm, Earth, and Fire
Accepted.

Psymon
Besides the fact that you also should read the first line under General Information more carefully, this is pretty good. I'll accept it after you've fixed that mistake.

Exo-Raikou
Reserved.

uber charizard
More details please.


I'll post my own form later, when TCoD stops dying on me.

 

[Barubu]

Name: Fenos
Age: 11
Gender: male
Species: Umbreon

Appearance: His rings glow bright gold at any sense of danger. He is 4ft. tall and 5ft long from his head to his tail.His coat is a.... how should I say it? a shimmering
black coat. He has a bright red tongue; which was never explained to him(as far as he knows).

Personality: Fenos is kind and open to other Pokemon, but doesn't tolerate distrustful Pokemon. He loves to stay awake most of the time, but in the light,his rings stop glowing.Fenos is actually at a crossroads, wondering if he's doing the right thing, but is afraid to tell anyone in fear that they will shun him.

History:Fenos actually doesn't know about his past. In the war, he suffered from amnesia and is searching for answers. He believes that there was a ritual in which he was forcefully evolved. His best friend was his brother(they were both Eevees at the time), but in his research, he found that his brother was also forced into evolution; but into an Espeon. His brother was recruited into Arceus's army, and Fenos is afraid to face him.

 

[Flareth]

I fixed it up. Hope you accept.

 

[Ven]

It may be, seeing as that is based on my ASB Scyther's sig attribute. But it doesn't matter. As I have said, I have another character waiting in the wings, so it's ok that you did not accept him. If it is okay, can my new character have the same personality and a same history (minus the first paragraph)? He will be a Weavile instead of a Scyther.

 

[Coloursfall]

Name: Miss Melpomene Murder
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Species: Banette

Appearance: Melpomene, as a Banette, is a good-sized spectral creature of a dark grey colour, with a small body, stubby legs, long arms, and a large head. A club-like orange tail trails from her backside, covered in spikes and rather deadly looking, and she bears a crown-like trio of spikes on her head as well. A spectral trail of energy flows from the back of her head, trailing off into nothingness after a couple of feet. Her arms bear razor-sharp claws and can twist and bend in any direction she likes, and are quite good at slicing living flesh. Her eyes glow a bloody red, and her mouth is a wide grin, the 'teeth' actually a large zipper, the tag of which is off to one side.

One thing that sets her aside, however, is the crimson red marking on her face, starting just between her eyes and curling around her centre horn. (the mark in the bottom-right corner of this here card 8D) It seems to glow sometimes.

Personality: Melpomene, named for the Muse of Tragedy from an ancient legend, has decided she likes this idea. She delights in causing mayhem and wrecking the lives, families, and bodies of nearly anyone she comes across, and showing them how tragic life really is; you could be killed at any moment! She is mad in the most dangerous way; the calculating, clever, orderly madness, capable of extreme acts of monstrosity. She delights in pain, her own or others', and will go out of her way to cause it, including jabbing sharp pins into her own body. She shows no mercy, and will turn her razor-sharp claws and deadly cunning on even the youngest child or oldest man. She's a master of manipulation, skilled with the Attract, Captivate, and Toxic techniques, and often using them in tandem. She is very proud and sort of a snob, looking down on almost all others.

History: Melpomene was born to a Dusknoir father and Banette mother, and was their only child. She was treated like a princess by her family and clan, since she bore that strange red mark, which they believed to be the mark of Giratina, and thought she was his Chosen One. She was raised to be brutal and skilled in combat, and to serve her lord Giratina without question, should the need arise. She started to fancy herself his 'wife' of sorts, and dedicated her life to finding him and serving his every need.

She left her family once she reached adulthood to hunt out Giratina by herself, and, upon finding the Darkness Clan, joined immediately.

Other: I'd say that this song describes her well 8D

 

[Thorne]

Reserve please, ima try to be more active naoz.

 

[magnemite]

Another reserve, can't get my internet to spellcheck correctly... i'll try to get it workin.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

Name: Lunoso

Age: 19 in whatever Grimer years are.

Gender: Male

Species: Grimer

Appearance: Like a typical Grimer, Luno is a large glob of poisonous, noxious goop. Due to his rather fine control of the mass of ooze that is his being, the Poison-type almost never keeps the same shape, expanding or shrinking as need be. He's rather darker-colored than many Grimer, and generally hovers a few inches above the ground (explained in History).

Personality: Luno is quite the jokester, and loves brewing up terrible puns that are about as noxious as himself. The Grimer is otherwise quiet, entering serious conversation only when he needs to. He has a rather 'sit there and take it' battle style, absorbing or forming around most attacks. He's been a nomad his entire life, and does rather well on his own.

History: Luno split of from his parents as a single entity, with no siblings. He wandered about Johto, leaving a trail of sickened plants in his wake. At some point he met a skin-and-shell Shedinja who taught him how to levitate. With this new knowledge in tow, the noxious Pokémon set out again, wanderer that he is. Nothing of much interest has happened to him since then.

 

[Dave Strider]

Edited that out. Am I accepted now?

 

[allitersonance]

Name: Phren
Age: 6 (36)
Gender: Male
Species: Azurill (Banette)

Appearance: Phren is not greatly distinguishable from a typical azurill, although he does look rather young. He has a deep blue body, attached to a large rubbery ball, bigger than his body, with a zig-zagging black tail. His large black eyes seem to sparkle just a little too much, and his mouse-like ears look too big for his body. It's easy to miss the fact that he lacks the common white cheek spots, but that's because his overly childish, cheerful expression is easier to notice. He also has small feet that he doesn't usually walk on, since bouncing on his tail-ball is much faster. There are a few light scars that seem to remain even when he heals to the best of his ability, presumably because they were there when he took over the body: several small scratches on his tail-ball, a nick on his left ear, and a scrape on each foot.

Personality: Phren deliberately plays up his cuteness with unrelenting cheer, playfulness, easy trust and admiration, comfort with any stranger, unrealistic optimism, a love for stories, dependency on others, a desire to please, no internal censor yet mostly polite, and infinite capacity for affection. Of course, this is all just manipulation, since he knows most pokemon of light easily fall for such things. In keeping with this, he is fond of using moves like charm, fake tears, attract, and captivate upon initially meeting with opponents, and feigning confusion when a shadow ball comes from his body and attacks - after all, an azurill can't do that, right? He keeps this false personality even around his allies, in case someone is spying on them.

Naturally, he's not really like that. He is a self-centred pokemon who would easily sacrifice his comrades and ruthlessly slaughter enemies. He mocks opponents who have figured out his true personality by maintaining a wide, child-like grin just before launching an attack, and using moves like attract to those who wouldn't fall for it again in the midst of taunt, torment, and swagger. However, he is fond of some allies and he is devoted to any cause he deems worthy.

History: Phren was born in a swarm of shuppet, which was part of a larger ghost clan, although he stayed within his swarm to feed off negative feelings most of the time. His clan did not take an active part in seeking to restore Giratina, although they had a few pokemon they believed were Chosen to vanquish the light. Phren watched those pokemon be trained as the most vicious and heartless pokemon possible with mild amusement, as it seemed overall highly unnecessary but it fed him all the same. Phren himself was a mediocre fighter, but he did not envy the expert Chosen. Once he evolved, he started going out on his own rather than stay within the swarm or the clan, and he explored his forest home more bravely. He hid in the shadows during the day and only explored under the cover of blessed darkness.

Although he thought he was safe at night, this wasn't totally true. There were whispers amongst the ghosts - Arms of Arceus, perhaps, although he was never sure what they called themselves, if they bothered with names at all - that some pokemon roamed the night in order to catch the creatures of darkness. One night he was rather violently seized by psychic power, assaulted with bolts of electricity and blasts of flame, and, despite his best efforts, beaten nearly to the point of unconsciousness. It was evident that the group (made of pikachu, growlithe, and abra, he thought, but there might have just been one of each) could have defeated him normally if they tried, but instead they left him conscious in the bushes. The abra grabbed his mouth-zipper with psychic power and opened his mouth, allowing all of his cursed energy and possibly his soul to escape.

The forest where this occurred was rather close to a pond that housed several azurill, marill, and azumarill. A young azurill, known amongst his peers for often exploring farther and longer than was safe, had gotten lost in the area, and the flashes of flame and electricity attracted his attention. Apparently not caring that he might be considered prey, he cheerfully bounced over to see what was going on. Phren noticed him - it was rather difficult not to - and at the last moment managed to jerk his head around so his escaping energy would catch the azurill mid-bounce. It was half due to chance, but his soul intercepted the azurill almost perfectly.

The growlithe and pikachu and abra seemed to realise that the azurill was struck, but due to the ensuing unconsciousness they thought the effect was merely a very powerful attack that knocked the azurill unconscious. Feeling pity, as well as wariness, they returned him to his tribe and kept watch to see if he was cursed. When Phren awoke, he found himself a mixture of Phren and the previous, not-well-developed personality of the azurill. He was rather weak, though, and a little frightened, so he showed none of himself to Arceus's agents. They left, and Phren was left to try to blend with the others in his tribe. He did well enough, although he remained an azurill even when his age-mates evolved, which some thought was due to his lack of maturing or perhaps the curse. He still explored often, often alone, so the tribe called him Wanderer. Despite physical limitations, he was always more comfortable at night, which made the other pokemon uncomfortable.

He never forgot what the pokemon of light did to him, and despite having an overall safer life, he never forgave them, either. Sensing his vengeful feelings, several shuppet met him on his nightly jaunts and basked in his presence. Through them, he learned that the marked Chosen One of his old ghost clan had joined the Darkness Clan. Feeling that returning darkness to the world would help him avenge himself, he left the marill tribe one night, never to return.

Other: Because Phren has taken over an azurill's body, evolution has become impossible. Physically, he is restricted to an azurill's capabilities, and can only use the normal physical attacks of an azurill, but he can still access his mental and ghostly moves. Where other elemental manipulation is required, he can only use moves shared by an azurill and a banette. Emotionally manipulative moves like charm and taunt are available to him as long as either azurill or banette would have access to them, because charm mainly uses physical appearance and taunt is all words.