#least of all hero/partner/darkrai

[birdcatt]

ok so i KNOW hero/darkrai and/or partner/darkrai is very much a road of hurt/comfort. HOWEVER i think hero/partner/darkrai has Comedic Potential

forbidden version where leaf doesn't have floppy ears below the cut

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: Look, being thrown through time and space isn't fun in the first place. But being attacked while already in such a situation? That’s just bad manners. Darkrai would know, of course, suddenly being on the receiving end of just that. But at least he landed in the past, meaning he has the perfect chance to finally take his revenge on those pesky ‘heroes’ that got him there in the first place. And he has the perfect plan, this time: Disguise himself as a perfectly harmless Pokémon, get close to them, and once they fully trust him… stab them in the back and watch them suffer! Now, if only he could stop himself from starting to like the once-human… that would be great. And where, exactly, has the original partner Pokémon gone? (Can technically be read without knowledge of the Mystery Dungeon Series) (was intended to be crack. is now just a story with the occasional humour but also angst and too many words. and a surprising amount of character development for Darkrai. basically the Redemption Arc he never got.)

Author: @neferirkarekakai

Note from submitter: It's SO good, Darkrai's characterization is immaculate. Check it out if you like gradual character evolution.

[defendglobe]

here's a list of all the PMD2 hero/partner duos (that i could think of, at least) i've used over the years. probably forgot some but its long enough as it is. if you're wondering what in god's name is wrong with me and why i restarted the game so many times, i talked about that in this post.

some of these duos i only played for like, two dungeons before i restarted just because i wanted to see how i liked that team, so its not like i went all the way to darkrai this many times. some of these teams i've played a shitload of different times. the ones i highlighted are my favorites that i reuse a lot.

[eldragon-x-moved]

the leaf dad nuzleaf

favorite thing about them

I really thought he was a lovely father figure. He was even my favourite character in the first half of Super and it was the first and only time I was upset knowing he will betray Hero because I got more attached pre-betrayal to him than I did to Dusknoir or Munna (how ironic)

least favorite thing about them

*deep sigh* his villain arc...

favorite line

none in particular

brOTP

I guess I could see him being buddies with Carracosta

OTP

If it wasn’t for him sending all of Serene Village to hell and all that mess he took part in almost costing Partner’s life, I could see him being with Carracosta. Otherwise I feel like their relationship is just generally kinda awkward post-canon.

nOTP

none really

random headcanon

He used to be an adventurer himself when he was younger.

unpopular opinion

The thing with his whole motivation as a villain being he’s mindcontrolled by Dark Matter really ruined his character for me. I was already afraid he’d just be another Darkrai but the second it was revealed that Dark Matter can just mindcontrol Pokemon, I threw the whole character away. Literally all my disliking for Nuzleaf comes from this I swear I adore him otherwise. I defenetly don’t think as highly of him as most of the fandom.

song i associate with them

none

favorite picture of them

none again

[shima-draws]

SHIMA WHICH PMD FIC.....

It’s called Dimensions of Darkness!! It’s split up into three separate books/parts. Parts 1 and 2 (Explorers of Nightmares and Explorers of the Core) are finished already, and part 3 (Explorers of the Beyond) was unfortunately never finished (left off in like. 2013 so it’s been a WHILE) but it’s still a really good read :’0

It follows the TDS anime special, so the hero/partner team is Piplup and Chimchar! (So you can see why I’m biased lmao.) Basically it kinda follows their adventures after defeating Darkrai and saving the world. Part 1 mostly focuses on the team’s confrontation against a legendary Pokemon, centered in Treasure Town and the Hidden Land. Part 2 follows them down into the Core, a place hidden beneath the earth, where Rayquaza lies! Part 2 is my personal favorite bc we get introduced to some really good characters, and Grovyle and Dusknoir join the team so it’s basically the four of them goofing off on an adventure and it’s tons of fun. I’d explain more but I don’t wanna spoil so!

I reread this fic series at least once a year;; it’s just so good. The plot is really well written and it’s woven together so nicely, and everyone’s so in character and it’s just. Tons of fun! With lots of adventure and drama and comedy!

As far as I know it’s not on FFNet or AO3, it was originally posted on Serebii Forums and is still there if you want to read it all!

[unknown-dungeon]

I’m dragging myself away from my twitter to NOT spam the people over there with this pmd shit, bc I have a lot I want to talk about and I keep conveniently forgetting that this is exactly what I made this blog for, ANYWAY

Here’s some reflections/ramblings on the main antagonistic trio(Skuntank, Dusknoir, and Darkrai) and their respective.. “redemption” moments, I guess. Naturally there will be pmd2 spoilers, so if you haven’t played through/seen everything- and i do mean everything, from the very beginning to the end of the post game + the bonus content in sky- then don’t read. Forget I mentioned these three pokemon and experience the story yourself. It’s best when going in blind. Cool? Cool.

So these three are prime examples of selfishness driving your actions and leading you to do less-than ideal things.

Skuntank wants the fame and glamour associated with exploration teams without having to do all the work

Dusknoir is Survival First Consequences Later (so his selfishness is more personal and arguably more justifiable, but still, selfish nonetheless)

Darkrai just has a pure selfish want for power and control. He wants to be The HBIC, and if he’s gotta talk a couple of (admittedly capable) pipsqueaks into offing themselves to do that then so be it

They’re all examples of what happen when you let your wants dictate your decisions, no matter the consequence.

Dusknoir’s change of heart is pretty common knowledge at this point; he’s a good guy who (understandably) didn’t want to get wiped from existence just because somebody else decided they didn’t want the future to exist. We know that outside of Primal’s threats and such that he’s a good guy because he helps people when he doesn’t have to; he helps the hero and the partner before he learns the truth about the hero.

Ofc discovering the truth, he has to do his job, since he doesn’t want to die via nonexistence. He also doesn’t want to get on Primal’s bad side, so him hunting down Grovyle and co. was just the natural choice to him. He doesn’t get “redeemed” until he has to spend time with Grovyle and becomes friends with him. He learns to be selfless through witnessing the actions of others.

Skuntank doesn’t really have a change of heart; he starts off as a grade-a dick and pretty much finishes where he started. He’s self centered and vain and that’s more or less all he’s got going for him-

BUT! But. He does have a single moment towards the end of the main story, where he chooses to give the partner their relic fragment back. I think most people sorta shrug off that interaction as nothing special, but I see it as him at least acknowledging when he’s outclassed and knowing when he needs to stop being petty for 5 seconds and actually help for once.

Because really, he did not have to give that relic fragment back. He could’ve just went “haha, fuck you, good luck suckers” and then blacked out without doing anything. He could’ve just left the hero and partner to pick the relic fragment from his unconscious body and left it at that, but he didn’t. It’s a small moment but it reveals that he’s not bad, he’s just. You know, a dick.

AND NOW for the big one, Darkrai. We don’t know a single thing about him before we’re made aware of him. He could’ve been an angel reborn or been a prime bastard since the day he was born; all we know is that he wants the world to fall to darkness. As well as that, he’s tried no less than twice to accomplish this goal- first with the attempted collapse of temporal tower and again through the distortion of space/nightmare plot. He tries to get rid of grovyle, and fails. Tries to convince the hero and partner to Literally kill themselves in the post game, and fails. He tries to manipulate and then later kill the both of the hero and partner himself at the very end of the post game and yet again fails.

He does everything to spite the hero/partner and is ready to try yet again to end the world even when he’s defeated, and the only thing that stops him is palkia’s interference and some dramatic irony, with a dash of forcibly administered amnesia so that he literally cannot be a threat anymore. Recruiting him, you see that he’s got (for lack of a better term) an edgy persona, but as a whole he’s harmless and willing to join your team.

The main thing with Darkrai is that his “redemption” wasn’t optional on his part. Dusknoir and Skuntank both chose when to stop the act (be it temporarily or for good) and do something good. Darkrai never has that chance- or rather, he has the chance to be better, but chooses not to be. Because he very well could’ve stopped after his initial plan with Temporal Tower failed, and he doubly could’ve had his change of heart before Palkia showed up at Dark Crater.

I’ve seen people sorta zone in on the fact that he’s not a truly bad person after Dark Crater because of how he is after getting amnesia, and I... wholeheartedly disagree? It makes sense if a bad person whose forgotten they were a bad person doesn’t want to act bad. Because they don’t remember it.

But when we have other “bad” characters- Skuntank and Dusknoir- willingly choose to do or be good despite not having to have that permanent change of heart, Darkrai’s actions don’t need further explaining. He didn’t try to be better because he didn’t want to be better. He wanted to be the overlord of a dark and hopeless world, and he held onto that ideal until it was literally impossible for him to do so anymore- and that change was not because he wanted to, but because he was made to.

And honestly? That’s not a bad thing. Characters that are bad through and through, regardless of their past motivations or reasonings or whatever, are not a bad thing. Everyone does not need or deserve redemption, and that’s okay.

i said this on twitter but, people think the message of pmd2 is “redemption” and i’m not really inclined to agree? i think the message is that anyone is capable of anything; you yourself decide how you want to interact with the world and everyone else. everything falls according to the choices you make, and if you don’t heed the consequences of your actions they WILL catch up to you (ala darkrai)

[thieves-in-the-palace]

Can we all agree that a lot of the PMD Explorers Cast needs some serious therapy? They’ve been through a lot of crap; from being bullied to betrayal to (trigger warning) Darkrai trying to drive the hero and partner to suicide. Maybe that new counselor confidant, Takuto Maruki can do the therapy sessions? (Explorers!Hero talking to Takuto: And then I faded from existence, but I got better.)

Maruki takes notes and literally all they read are “damn, that’s messed up”

but yeah, at least half the main characters (and even some of the minor NPCs) (by which I mean the Wurmple in Team Tasty who thought their Swellow teammate was gonna eat them) would definitely benefit from some therapy sessions. I feel like Joker and Maruki are gonna have to team up for the endeavor XD

[lovepmd]

Heya. Time for an angsty prompt. So, it's after the Darkrai story in one of the Explorer's games, right? Then world's saved and the Hero (Charmander) and the Partner (Turtwig) go about their exploring and what not. One day, Charmander gets sick. Turtwig takes care of Charmander (as well as other team/guild members). Charmander, one night, tells Turtwig how much they love their Partner and their team and tells them everything will be ok. The next day, the fire on Charmander's tail is out.

WELL OK YOU JUST KINDA WROTE THE WHOLE THING ON YOUR OWN THERE AND THAT WASN’T QUITE THE PROMPT I WAS EXPECTING

but frick it, here we go

Everyone was growing more and more worried about Charmander with each day that passed. Chatot didn’t know what was wrong, and asking around town and even outside of town didn’t help. They could just simply tell that Charmander was sick, but no one could figure out with what sickness or even what the cure might be.

They all tried everything they could think of, but nothing seemed to be making them better. While none of it seemed to be the cause of making them worse, it didn’t stop Charmander from slowly growing weaker over time.

Turtwig did their best to take care of Charmander, and they started sleeping less and less. They were worried, and scared, that something horrible might happen while they were asleep.

It’s late one evening with the two of them at home on the cliff. Turtwig makes sure the fire keeps going and that Charmander stays warm. No matter how big the fire is though, the fire on their tail is small.

The grass pokemon sighs and lays down on their bed, but they don’t plan on sleeping. Not yet at least, but they feel their eyes starting to droop.

“Turtwig?”

They jump up several feet in the air at the sound of their partner. Turtwig gets up and is quickly at Charmander’s side, looking over them carefully. “Yes? What is it?”

Charmander lets out a tiny laugh, the best they can manage at the moment. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh,” Turtwig calms down a little, sitting down next to them.

The fire pokemon sighs and looks at them, smiling fondly. “I just...wanted to let you know how much I love you. And everyone else. The guild, the town, everyone.”

Turtwig’s face turns a bright shade of red for a couple moments. They look away and clear their throat, looking back at them shyly. “Oh, well....I love you too. We’ve been through so much together, and I just want to help you out the same way you’ve helped me.”

Charmander shakes their head. “Turtwig, you’ve already done that. All of our adventures together, everything we went through to get to this point...you gave me that. Our friendship means the world to me, and I’m so happy to have met you.”

“I’m happy I found you passed out on the beach,” Turtwig laughs. “But I feel the same way. Our friendship means everything to me.” The pokemon frowns. “Wait, why are you saying this right now?”

The fire pokemon is quiet for a moment. “I was just thinking about everything that’s happened since I woke up here. It all feels like yesterday and yet so long ago.”

Turtwig nods, and the both of them are silent for a minute. The sound of the fire next to them and the gentle waves below filling the air. It’s peaceful. Serene.

Charmander looks at their partner again and smiles. “Everything is going to be ok, Turtwig.”

The grass pokemon looks at them, confused for a few seconds, then nods again. “I’ll keep doing my best, Charmander.”

-

They don’t remember falling asleep. Turtwig slowly opens their eyes and sees that it’s day. The sun has been up for a little while, but it’s only a bit past dawn.

Turtwig shakes their head and then they suddenly remembered the fire. They looked over and saw the fire was out, but...

but...

Turtwig stares as his mind and heart take a long time to process what they’re seeing.

Charmander was still laying there. They looked so peaceful and content, they looked asleep. But...their tail....the fire was gone.

“C-...Charmander?” Turtwig whispers, slowly getting up and stepping over to their partner, checking over them. Their heart sinks as realization dawns on them further.

Turtwig’s whole body shakes and tears are flowing freely down their face. They collapse next to their partner and start sobbing.

The sun rises further into the sky, welcoming a new day to the peaceful world.

[sky-fortress]

🖊 🖊 🖊

three pens three characters YEET

i’ll say right off the bat that i think they’re all angels,, questionable angels some of them but angels nonetheless 

phika – phika lives in the sinnoh region in jubilife city and works for the international police and yeah it really does suck for her sometimes (a lot) bc her job gives her a lot of stress and she also thinks that she’s been cursed by darkrai (she’s got a lot of issues) so that doesn’t help much??? but she always tries her best and she loves her pokemon and her friends and her parents so much and i love her!!! i love her very much and she’s actually been a huge part of my life since i was around eight

i created her when i was eight after reading the diamond and pearl adventure! manga bc i thought the mc hareta being raised by pokemon was really cool so that’s how she started out,, except she was like tossed over a gorge outside of twinleaf down and got psychic powers because she was saved by a bunch of meditite? idk eight year old me was wild – then she was cyrus’ daughter for a long while and ran away to join the international police bc why not??? 

she mellowed out after a while,,, she’s still in interpol and she’s not cyrus’ daughter anymore but god if she hasn’t changed so much in the past ten years – i can literally track my progress as an artist and a writer through her and i just??? i love her so much she’s a fictional character in my head but she means the world to me and she’s helped me to get through so much and sometimes i cry over her!! because that’s just how it is sometimes. 

úrsula – úrsula’s my gates to infinity hero and fat shock i love her too! gates is my favorite mystery dungeon game and she (and her partner axel) are a huge reason for that,, i loved gates and i loved the idea of having a group of pokemon with you that help you to save the world and support one another no matter what! gates is great end of discussion

more úrsula specific, she’s an oshawott/dewott (depends on a few factors) who used to live in venice before going to the pokemon world and she’s an incredible chef! she loves cooking in the cafe with swanna and making food for all of her friends,, she’s not great at expressing her gratitude through words because she feels like she doesn’t say enough so if she’s expressing gratitude or appreciation or love she’ll cook you something. she’ll find out what your favorite food is and make it for you. that’s how she rolls babey!! and her favorite flowers are sunflowers bc she thinks they’re really pretty so axel plants a bunch of them in paradise for her and she’s just like “fuck guess im going to marry you now” (they eventually do get married and its great)

she’s loyal and stubborn and she loves her friends with her whole heart and she makes me smile and i love her! i know i say that a lot but it’s true i love her very much. 

bella – bella’s a pokemon trainer from kalos and she’s incredible,,, she kicks all the ass and she takes all the names and she always wears a black trench coat bc it looks cool. bella’s cool. she doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit (at least she tries not to)

she’s done a total 180 since i initially created her after playing through X version for the first time – she used to be really nice to people and she was friends with the friend/rival group in-game and sycamore but after i played through X a second time i was like “these people are not as great as i remember” so she started turning into more of a bitch (for lack of a better word) which was actually kind of a good thing? bc she had so much more character when she didn’t get along with the group and sycamore than when she did? she was bitchy and independent and blunt and from there she had so much more room to grow than she did when she was just like “oh these are my friends!!” she beat calem into the ground every time they battled so she could prove that she was better and she hates sycamore (because i hate sycamore he’s useless) and she wears!! a!! trench coat!!! 13 year old me thought that was the coolest thing so that’s like,, the one consistency she’s had for the past five years

as she gets older she mellows out some – she’s still haughty and will still assert herself whenever she can and she still thinks she’s better than some people, but she’s less in-your-face about it now. she’s a cool veteran with a trench coat and a white scarf. she knows her shit. she’s also friends with and has a little bit of a crush on but she’d never ever ever admit that phika, and will spend time with her whenever phika’s visiting kalos for work. she scolds phika a lot for not taking care of herself well enough and gets upset with her when phika hasn’t gotten a lot of sleep (and tries to make it so she can get some sleep). she worries a lot and she’s bad at expressing it in a good way so it’s usually her just getting mad – at the end of the day though, she’s genuinely worried about losing phika. bella doesn’t make a lot of friends, so she’s very protective of the ones that she already has (which isn’t many). and of course i love her very much too!! i think she’s really cool and cute and deserving of love and appreciation

christ this was really long im so sorry but thank you so much for asking!! it really does mean a ton ❤❤

[defendglobe]

partner for the ask game (can be all of them or just one of your choice)!

im gonna go with explorers partner!!

favorite thing about them: watching them grow and become more confident to the point where they can stand up and face the literal end of the world like OOOGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHUUHHHH also their bond with hero makes me want to rip the door off my fridge. 

least favorite thing about them: they fucking SUFFER and it hurts to watch. 

favorite line: "Even though I have my closest and most precious friend with me I worried all alone and almost gave up alone....When in fact, i’m not alone.” 

brOTP: partner+grovyle because their conversation after the future is so good.

OTP: hero/partner is god tier.

nOTP: fuckin partner/relic fragment or some shit.

random headcanon: a few months after the game ends, they decide to go back to the hidden land/temporal tower with hero just to revisit that and tell dialga what they learned from darkrai about temporal tower’s destruction. on the way back to the rainbow stoneship, partner blurts out some kinda love confession in the same spot where hero once disappeared. (this was an old cringy pmd fanfic idea i shat out in 2009).

unpopular opinion: their dialogue is prettyh repetitive/awkward at times, but that’s clearly a translation thing rather than having to do with the partner as a character. 

song i associate with them: king and lionheart - of monsters and men

favorite picture of them: this stupid bullshit 

[defendglobe]

Darkrai for the ask thing

favorite thing about them: i love how well he ties together all the loose ends of plot! and i definitely didn’t expect the whole pre-ending plot to have been masterminded by someone else behind the scenes.

least favorite thing about them: not much of a motivation aside from wanting to rule the world of darkness. he’s pretty one dimmensional compared to like, dusknoir or munna.

favorite line: that scene where he traps hero in a nightmare of partner siding with him is pretty fucking good.

brOTP/OTP/nOTP: gonna rip off @eldragon-uwu and say "darkrai doesn't deserve love or friendship"

random headcanon: i can’t remember where this came from (might have been ridley or someone on the old poorly drawn pmd blog) but darkrai being a mid 2000s scene kid always makes me laugh. 

unpopular opinion: darkrai doesn’t actually subvert wigglytuff’s “truly bad pokemon don’t exist anywhere” thing. in the end, he loses all his memories so he’s effectively neutralized and could become a better person.

song i associate with them: something that would play in a hot topic probably

favorite picture of them: idk if there’s any art of pmd2 darkrai aside from his sprites haha

[lovepmd]

I really hope the next pmd game has a plot line that’s more reminiscent of rescue team or sky. Super’s plot line left me feeling kind of unfulfilled, because it was a bit dumbed down to me. I’d rather have a real sense of adventure instead of a sense of being in elementary school, you know?

well, hero (at least physically) and partner in super were literally children, while age isn’t really mentioned or a factor in the earlier games, so that’s why there was literal school parts, though i don’t like just how LONG you spend in serene village compared to other parts of the game

but i can see your point with the “dumbed down”ness, but honestly looking over some of the dialogue in even the earlier games of rescue team and explorers, it’s not all that great either lol. there’s a lot of repetition and such that makes the game feel like it was meant for children, and they are all rated E. HOWEVER, there is something about the later games, especially in super, where it feels....worse. it’s hard to describe, and i got the same feeling from sun/moon, it’s a weird development, but “dumbed down” is a phrase i would use for that

BUT ANYWAY, i get what you mean by that feeling overall, but honestly i just want another pmd game and one where the final boss or at least the overall goal is unique (rayquaza was the final boss in rescue team but he wasn’t evil you just needed to tell him to look up at the damn meteor, explorers had darkrai with no real explanation for why he wanted a nightmare/darkness...world stuff, and then the bittercold and dark matter are semi the same things and dark matter felt more just out of left field and a last minute addition)

[lovepmd]

uhh im not sure if you're even still accepting team headcanons, but if you are could you do a (female) lonely skitty hero & (male) jolly pikachu partner from sky ? (its totally alright if you can't get to it)

getting to it now! almost done with these in fact!

1- pikachu is so so happy to make a new friend, an actual friend in fact. sure he knows a lot of pokemon already, but no one they could really call his friend, until skitty came along

2- skitty is unsure about everything at first, but she knows one thing at least, she hates the thought of being alone somewhere. she does warm up quite well to the guild and being around town, and of course being around pikachu

3- they are quick to form a good team in dungeons, once skitty figures out all their moves, they’re an awesome duo that shouldn’t be messed with in the slightest

4- skitty does not do well at all in the future, or in the hidden lands, or being near darkrai. pikachu constantly comforts her though, and when it came to darkrai, a lot of rage suddenly appeared from skitty so she ended up doing her absolute best against darkrai

5- pikachu loves exploring more than anything else, it’s both the journey and the destination he enjoys. finding new places, getting treasure, helping pokemon in need…it’s his dream to just explore forever

bonus!6- both of their favorite places to hang out is the cafe, sitting there with each other, their team, and other pokemon, it quickly becomes something they do very often