Dawn didn't sleep anymore.

The nightmares wouldn't let her.

She'd close her eyes and she'd be plunged into the Distortion World again, nothing above her, nothing below, and something horrific flying by. She'd be facing Team Galactic and this time she wouldn't win. She'd watch the world shatter away, her mother's face the last thing she saw.

So she stayed up.

She drank the strongest tea she could brew.

And she promised Darkrai it wasn't its fault.

***

"I know you're afraid," she said. She reached out to touch Darkrai's 'hand'. "You've been alone for a long time. But I'm going to live up to being the trainer you deserve. We can do this."

Darkrai looked away and floated up to look at the moonless sky.

Empoleon, with exceptional skill, was balancing a teacup in her flippers. She held the cup up to her beak. Dawn's other pokemon were as sleepless as her. Empoleon was a good pokemon. A partner any trainer would be proud to have. She wasn't feeling like the trainer Empoleon deserved, not if she couldn't control the darkness within their newest team member.

"I'm sorry," said Dawn quietly. "But... Darkrai's part of our team too. I promised them they wouldn't have to be alone anymore."

Empoleon looked at Dawn from under her trident mask, and went back to drinking tea. She was too tired to 'suggest' again that Darkrai should be set free far away from Dawn and the team.

"The voice we heard. It said something about Fullmoon Island," said Dawn, pouring herself more tea. "What do you think?"

Empoleon yawned.

"We need to try it then."

***

Hatching a plan was easy. Enacting a plan when you didn't have anything more than the mutterings of a mysterious voice to go on was a totally different matter. And Dawn couldn't stay anywhere for long, not with Darkrai's powers in their wild state. Fullmoon Island, that was the failsafe. That's what she'd guessed and her guesses were always on target - how else had she managed to defeat Cyrus and survive Giratina? But she was so tired now, and her dreams so horrifying, she was starting to doubt she'd ever heard the voice.

She had to avoid battles now. Her pokemon could barely perform their attacks, moving sluggishly and out of sync. No one was sleeping.

She went home.

Barry had ideas, when she conferred with him. A lot of them. All at once.

After leaving Twinleaf Town, her first stop on her interrogate the entire Sinnoh region tour, she set up camp in the woods. She was far enough away from people, she decided, that she wasn't going to get her mother and friends caught up in her nightmare.

She let her pokemon out. Empoleon, looking annoyed and tired. Bidoof looking small, fluffy, and slowly tilting on her side from exhaustion. Staraptor in a tree keeping watch for the horrors he saw in his dreams. And Darkrai, floating in the distance like it felt it didn't deserve to be near them.

She pulled Bidoof into a hug and tried to think good thoughts about sleep. She needed it. Maybe she wouldn't dream tonight.

<i>What if I don't wake up?</i> crossed her mind. She shivered.

"Hey! Dawn!"

She looked up and saw Barry riding up, legs pumping on his bike and holding up a pokeball in his hand triumphantly.

"Dawn! You're going to love this!" He skidded to a stop, just managed to avoid crashing with the bike and ran at her. Stopping to catch his breath, he held out the pokeball.

"Um?" said Dawn, sleepily.

"It's a Drowzee! I had to ask all my friends to find one for you! It eats dreams, Dawn!"  He clicked the button and out came an unsettling yellow and brown pokemon with a long snout.

"It's not normal dreams--" began Dawn. She was trying to ignore the hope swelling in her chest. If it didn't work, she had another pokemon trapped with her.

"Give it a try!" Barry took her hands and looked into her eyes. "You can't be brave if you're too tired to move, Dawn! Let people help you like you're helping Darkrai and you might actually make it."

Dawn nodded. The Drowzee was doing an odd dance for the other pokemon, as if to say hello.

"You need to go, before it happens to you," she told Barry. She hugged him tightly.

"I know. Take good care of Drowzee, okay? She came from a breeder all the way in Sunyshore!"

Barry picked up his bike and rode off, waving widely to Dawn as he went.

She looked at Drowzee. Drowzee looked back.

"Please work," she said.

It did.

***

The nightmares were still there, but now they pulled away before Dawn could wake up. Darkrai seemed to open up now that the entire team wasn't wasting away. It would play with Bidoof, float around Staraptor as he flew, and even dared to tease Empoleon. Drowzee preferred to stay in the ball except when she'd come out at nights to feast.

***

It was in Canalave Dawn struck gold. A sailor named Eldritch told her he not only knew where Fullmoon Island was, he knew what it was she <i>needed</i>.

And so they set out, her pokemon safely in their balls, Darkrai hidden.

The ride was wonderful. There was a crisp breeze, and the spray felt wonderful against her face. In the air pelippers and wingulls flew, and mantines leapt up from the water as if to say hi.

<I>Cresselia</I>, thought Dawn, letting the name turn over and over in her mind. It was a beautiful name. Darkrai had a light opposite. Darkrai was the new moon when all was dark, and she was the full moon when it was bright. Dawn didn't know if she'd see Cresselia, but hopefully Cresselia had left a gift to help her and Darkrai.

Her heart hurt, thinking of Darkrai alone on its island, afraid to leave for the effects it had on people. She couldn't have taken it. And she wasn't going to let Darkrai face that loneliness again.

The island came into view. Bright flowers and vibrant trees, it was nothing like the mist-shrouded island she had met Darkrai on.

"Call me if you need me," said Eldritch, sitting to wait.

Dawn nodded and began her hunt. Once she was out of sight of sailor Eldritch, she set her pokemon free and told them what to look for. Darkrai clung to her side, like it didn't believe it was allowed here.

It was cute, something so big trusting her to be the strong one. She had visions of taking on the League with Darkrai. They were going to get past this pain and Darkrai would get to show the world what it could do.

They searched like they were possessed. Hope was near.

Night eventually fell. It was the full moon now. Her search had taken her a month, which was a long time when you were just a kid.

Bidoof proudly brought her everything she wasn't looking for. Berries, a pokeball (she had no idea how that got there), and several very interesting to Bidoof twigs.

When Bidoof came the seventh time, Dawn sighed. "It's very nice, sweetie but--" The glow cut her off. In Bidoof's mouth was... it was a feather more beautiful than any gem she had ever seen. Eyes wide, she reached out to touch it and her body filled with warmth. All the nightmares, the endless nights, washed away with its touch.

"The lunar wing!" she gasped. The other pokemon came running, eager to touch it.

Dawn handed it to them and grabbed Darkrai's 'hands', swinging it around in a dance.

"We found it! You can't hurt anyone if we have this, Darkrai! It'll banish all the bad thoughts! You're free!'

It is an odd thing to hear a Darkrai laugh, but it was the best thing Dawn had heard in a long time. And across the moon flew a beautiful pink and yellow pokemon as if in victory.