Lunar Dance

Halloween had arrived to PokePark and Autumn has caused the leafs to change their color along with some species of Pokemon having their appearance change due to the season. As the last bit of sun disappears over the land with the night sky taking over, many Pokemon from all over PokePark are making their way to Arbor Area and, more importantly, to Verdant Court to attend the annual Halloween party that is being held. Nearly all those who are making their way to the court are dressed up for the occasion since the celebration, as it has been the previous years, has been held as a costume party. Many have waited for this night as it was always something to look forward to, but for one individual this would be a night they never want to forget.

In a large field of grass that lies between Arbor Area and Cove Area, an unusual Pokemon is standing in the middle of the field as they looks over the fastly disappearing beauty created by the retreating sun. This individual appears overall as a Dewott, but it's normal light blue coloration has become dark blue and the fur on it's hips is now a black waist cape that holds its scalchops. The forearms, much like it's hands, have become black in color with it's hands having black claws unlike normal Dewotts.

On it's shoulders are long tatters that are the color as the fur it has with a red spiky growth around his neck and his mouth is covered by the largest part of the growth. It has a white fog-like plume billowing from it's head and the plume covers it's right eye as if hair, with the eyes of the unusual Pokemon being blue in color. On its chest are two black bolt-like stripes, one going from it's left side that stops under the right shoulder and the other going from it's right side to just above the black waist cape of fur that meet up in the middle of the back.

Taking its left hand to the spike in front of its mouth, the Pokemon turns the spike into what can best be described as black energy before moving it's hand down. As if by magic, the spike becomes black and becomes a marking on the skin as it moves it's hand down to its chest. By doing this and bringing it's hand back to it's side, the spike now is just a black marking just below it's neck and reveals the Pokemon's mouth along with a scar on the right side of it's mouth.

This Pokemon is well known to everyone as one of the heroes of PokePark from the Wish Park incident, since he has until recently been Oshawott, the adopted son of the Cove Area keeper Samurott. Now, since he evolved about a week and a half ago, he has been called by many as “Darwott” despite other still referring to him simply as “Oshawott”.

Looking up at what is by now the night sky, Darwott couldn't help but look back over the past month and everything that has happened to him during that time. To start with, the fact he was almost ready to evolve made his adopted father reveal to him who his real mother was. As it turns out, his mother was a Samurott who was a close friend of the Area Keeper and was willing to do anything for the safety of others.

Unfortunately, this attribute of his mother was also her biggest weakness as she died after giving birth thanks to the wounds she had at the time. However, Samurott told his adopted son that his mother died in peace as she, in her own words, 'was able to save the one who mattered most to her'. This did give Oshawott ease as he had finally found out who his mother was and that she did not simply abandon him.

However, his mind was fully brought to ease over the question as to who his parents were three weeks ago, which did surprise him as to when it happened. Less than a week before that event, he was called along with his friends by, of all beings, Zekrom to ask them along with Darkrai and Cresselia to stop a mysterious being who was trying to blanket the world in complete darkness. Despite what happened during the event that surprised him, he now looks back on it with fondness.

-Xx-

Three weeks ago...

In a cave on an island near PokePark, Darkrai and Oshawott were staying there for the night as the rain came down. The two, haven been separated by the others during a fight, are next to a fire built by the two with a pile of various berries nearby that they gathered before the rain started. However, what was interesting was what was being said by the two.

“N-no,” Oshawott said in disbelief as he took a step back, “That...that's not true.”

“It is true,” Darkrai replied, trying to convince the younger Pokemon, “I know that it is hard to believe, but I wouldn't be lying about this sort of thing.”

Oshawott didn't say anything, instead bringing his hands to his head and closed his eyes to try to make sense to what the Legendary had told him. While his mind was yelling at him that what he was told was a trick to make him join the Nightmare Legendary, something in his heart was telling him to at least hear Darkrai out to find out more. However, these two views on what he was told was making him unable to give a solid lead for which one to follow.

“Oshawott-”

That's as far as the Legendary got, as the young otter acted more on instincts than logic and quickly grabbed his scalchop from his stomach. Before Darkrai could react, Oshawott delivered a Razor Slash to his chest as the young otter yells at him in anger, sadness, and confusion.

“YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!”

Three more strikes landed against the Nightmare Legendary, who purposely didn't block the attacks despite having a way to protect himself from his attacks. He knew that he had to resolve this without hurting the young otter.

“Oshawott, please listen,” Darkrai said as he powered through another Razor Shell, “I know that you don't want to believe, but I can't lie to you about this.”

“We are nothing alike,” Oshawott shouted at him, landing two more Razor Shells, “You are a creature of darkness! You are a monster to everyone! I belong to the light! I am a normal Pokemon to everyone! You are willing to harm anyone until the end! I am willing to protect.....”

Oshawott's train of thought was interrupted by Darkrai saying one simple phrase.

“Anyone to the very end, much like your mother.”

This shocked the young otter, especially since that was an important trait that Samurott told him about his mother. However, his shock quickly ends as he tried to appear angry only for the tears in his eyes to betray his mixture of emotions.

“How...how do you know that?” Oshawott asked, which was stupid since it is possible that many people knew of this trait of his mother.

“Mika told me herself when she was nursing my wounds,” the Legendary told him, “She was willing to help me heal despite me being who I was.”

Oshawott stopped listening after hearing the name and, once Darkrai was done, just cried out in mixed emotion as he threw his scalchop. Since the Razor Shell wasn't activated, the Nightmare Legendary easily caught the thrown scalchop in his hand. However, his heart sank when he looked back at the young otter to see him crying his eyes out.

He didn't want to believe it, but there was no way to argue against what the Legendary has told him. He only heard the name “Mika” once before.

When Samurott told him about the nickname that the Area Keeper gave his mother and that the only other person who called her by that name was his father.

Just as he was about to look up, Oshawott felt arms around him as Darkrai brought him into a hug and the young otter started to cry into the Legendary's chest.

“I'm sorry to have to tell you that,” the Nightmare Legendary told him, “But I knew that it would be the only thing to convince you.”

A silence fell the cave for about three minutes, with the only sound other than Oshawott's crying was from the campfire and the rain outside the cave.

“W-why?”

Darkrai knew what the question he was probably going to ask was, but stayed quiet to allow the otter to ask.

“W-why d-didn't you r-realize w-who I w-w-was at W-Wish Park?” Oshawott shakily asked, his tears haven stopped for the moment.

“I...I thought you didn't even exist back then,” the Legendary replied as his eyes started to water, “The last time I saw your mother was three weeks before I heard she died. When I heard that, I thought you died with her.”

The young otter rubbed his head against the Legendary's chest, wiping away a few of his tears as the Pokemon holding him started to cry softly. Darkrai placed his left hand on the back of Oshawott's head, knowing that the two would be having to catch up over what has happened during the entire life of his son.

-Xx-

Darwott couldn't help but smile at the memory of finally being with his father and learning of who his parents were. Soon after both he and his father took out the mysterious being, the group returned back to PokePark with both of them being praised for what they did. In fact, many Pokemon still accepted who he was when the otter and Darkrai told everyone of who they were.

Despite many who didn't change their opinion, some have been looking at him in disgust due to his lineage and he can even point to a Gabite who attacked him minutes before he evolved trying to kill him. He couldn't help but touch the scar that the Gabite gave him using Dragon Claw. He smiled at the memory, despite what had happened.

Yeah, he got yelled at by Darkrai and Samurott for what he did, but it was so worth it just to kill that asshole! Samurott swore that he had a bit of Darkrai in him...and he enjoyed hearing that.

However, his smile dropped when he started to think about a certain Pokemon who accused him of essentially murdering the Gabite. The Pokemon in question happened to be Prince Bayleef, a now regular visitor to Verdant Court and one of the most contemptible beings Darwott ever had the misfortune of meeting. Of all those who saw him in disgust, Bayleef had to be the worst since, upon their first meeting a few days after Darwott evolved, he had the half-legendary arrested by his guards for murdering the Gabite.

Thankfully, Breloom and Victini were able to tell the queen what happened as they were nearby when the fight happened. The queen, after having hearing this and seeing his defensive wounds, ordered Bayleef to release Darwott as he had killed his attacker in self-defense. This incident started the utter hatred both the half-legendary and the foreign prince had for the other.

Taking his mind off that harsh memory, Darwott looks up at the sky to see that night had fallen and that the stars were shining without even the hint of a cloud. Looking around the sky, his turns around as he happens to spot an orange glow coming over the horizon from behind him.

“The moon's ready to rise,” he says to himself, looking on as the glow from the coming harvest moon becomes brighter. It's only a matter of time before he participates in what he had planned tonight.

-Xx-

In Verdant Court, Serperior is looking around the party as she wears a black cape with the inside being red along with fake fangs coming out of her mouth and two fake bite marks on her neck. She smiles as she sees that the first groups of the party have already arrived along with others arriving to her kingdom. To the queen, Halloween is always one of her favorite times of year, as everyone was willing to come together to celebrate the occasion.

She always enjoyed being the hostess of any celebration and she makes a conscious effort to try to talk to every participant who is at her celebrations. However, she can feel her stomach rumble and she has to get some of her old weakness: party appetizers. She knows that it is a tad early for her to take some appetizers, however she isn't sure if her stomach can survive before everyone else arrives.

Upon turning around to grab a few appetizers, she gets a surprise when she sees that her daughter is right behind her. She couldn't help but smile as she sees Servine, who had been known as Snivy until two weeks ago when she evolved, has her scales look a bit shinier thanks to her now consistent grooming.

However, something that catches her attention is the green sash around her waist with three pink, ring-like wings. Two of these wings are connected from her wrists to the sash with the third starting from where the other two end and connecting above her back. Whatever the ring-like wings are made of escaped the queen, but whatever they were made from allows them to give a faint glow and makes the princess look like she has the wings of Cresselia.

“How do I look, mom?” Servine asks as she turns to her side, moving her left arm and causing the wing of her costume to move along with the limb.

“You look adorable, sweetie,” Serperior replies, giggling a bit from her daughter's movement, “You gotten yourself ready for the Lunar Dance?”

“Y-yes, mom,” she quickly stutters as she turns back to face her mother and a blush appears on her face. Her mother gives her daughter a nuzzle before straightens up.

“I'm happy that you two have something to do tonight,” the queen says as she moves past her daughter, “Now go enjoy yourself tonight and tell your friend I said hello.”

“I will, mom!” Servine tells her as she makes her way out of Verdant Court.

As she makes her way to the buffet table, the queen couldn't help but look back at how much her daughter had changed over the course of a few weeks. Since she and her friends returned from their mission, her daughter has made an effort to be ready for the throne. Despite still having her tomboyish personality, she has been able to keep it on a minimum when she is in Verdant Court.

This has been alright for Serperior, especially since many leaders of foreign lands have started to visit PokePark and her daughter's been leaving a good impression on many who have visited Verdant Court.

-Xx-

Looking at the night sky, Darwott is busy watching the stars and makes sure to look at the other horizon to see the how high the moon is in the sky. Deciding to see where the harvest moon is, the half-legendary takes a glance behind him to see the top of the moon over the horizon and the glow having become brighter than earlier.

At that moment, he hears someone approaching him and he turns around to find his friend Servine walking towards him. As the princess walks towards him, the wings of her costume move along with her as she walks and making her friend blush from this simple act.

“Do you like how I look, Darwott?” Servine asks with a giggle as she sees her friend's blush.

“You look just as beautiful as an actual Cresselia,” Darwott replies as he gives her a gentle smile and walks up to her.

When the two are close enough, the half-legendary quickly wraps his arms around the princess and gives her a hug as she returns the hug. During their hug, Darwott leans in and gives Servine a kiss on the cheek which causes her to giggle again.

“Why didn't you do it on my lips?” the princess asks her friend while she still giggles about the kiss.

“That's not until later,” he replies, giving her another kiss on the cheek before backing up, “Did you tell your mother what we were going to do tonight?”

“Of course I did,” she says to answer his question, “But...”

“But what?” Darwott asks, his eyes wide in terror upon hearing her trail off.

“I...I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know that it's a mating ritual,” Servine replies, her smile haven disappeared by now, “Your father himself said that it's rare for other to know about the Lunar Dance ritual.”

The half-legendary sighs as he closes his eyes, letting go of the princess as he takes a step back. This has been the one thing about the entire night he hoped wouldn't happen. To many Pokemon, the term “Lunar Dance” is typically used to describe the signature move of the Cresselia species and the name of a dance based off the move. However, the term has a third meaning as it is used by both the Cresselia species and the Darkrai species for their mating ritual.

Since Darwott and Servine wanted to become mates, they both agreed to perform the Lunar Dance ritual that night. As per the ritual, Darwott had told both his real and adoptive fathers about what they are going to do and they both gave their permission for him to go through with it. Unfortunately for both young Pokemon, the fact that Serperior didn't know about the ritual means that they would unable to become mates unless she gave her daughter permission.

“W-what are we going to do?” the princess asks, worried that they may have to wait until the next harvest moon. Unlike other mating rituals, the Lunar Dance ritual has to be performed during the rising of a harvest moon. The half-legendary opens his eyes and looks at her with newfound determination before telling her something that brings her smile back.

“We can still perform the ritual. We just have to tell your mother after it's done.”

Both Pokemon look up to the night sky to see that more of the harvest moon has risen over the horizon. If the two are going to perform the mating ritual, now would be the time.

“Your highness,” he says, with both looking back at each other as he lifts his right hand to her, “May I take your hand in this dance?”

“Of course, my love,” she replies, placing her left hand in his right hand as if allowing him to take her for a dance.

Stepping closer to the princess, the half-legendary wraps his left arm around her to pull her closer as she places her right arm on his arm. Using the harvest moon as a spotlight for just them, the two start to dance, which to anyone watching looks like the two spinning around slowly as their dancing is in time with music only they can seemingly hear. This form of dancing that the two are doing is exactly as the mating ritual has been using for generations.

Due to the biology of the Cresselia species, the dance was refined over time to ensure a Cresselia or a Pokemon with similar biology such as a Servine could perform that dance along with their soon-to-be mates. Even as the minutes passed, both Pokemon are only focused on the love they see in each others eyes and ensuring that they are in sink with the others dancing.

“Oh, Darwott,” the princess tells him as the two continue to dance, “It wasn't until we were separated from you and your father did I realize how much I cared for you.”

“I know the feeling,” the half-legendary replies with a chuckle, “I have known my feelings for you ever since after we defeated my father in Wish Park.”

The two continue to dance in the moonlight, haven performed yet another part of the ritual that the Lunar Dance required. According to tradition, both partners in the dance have to tell each other when they first started to fall for each other. As next couple of minutes pass, the two remain silent as they continue their dance with more of the harvest moon rising over the horizon, by now half of the moon showing over the horizon.

“Hey, Darwott,” Servine asks as the ritual continues, “Do you remember when we learned about the love we had for each other?”

“How could I ever forget?” Darwott counters with a chuckle, with both looking back on that day.

-Xx-

A week ago...

A recently evolved Darwott was standing on a beach in Cove Area, looking into the horizon with the sunset causing the light blue sky being invaded by colors of pink and orange due to the retreating sun. As he stand looking into the horizon, he had to resist the urge to use his newly learned ability to, in a word, remove the spike covering his mouth.

Ever since he evolved, Darwott had been with his father and some of the other Legendary Pokemon to master his powers to their fullest. However, these lessons have been tiring for him as now was one of the few moments of peace he has had since he started training with his father. He had lost count of how many times he stopped paying attention to the Legendary Pokemon and imagining himself spending time with his friends.

Especially for the past few hours, as he was told by the Legendaries that he would have to learn new responsibilities since he now technically was one of them. To say that he hated this training would be wrong, it's just been tiring for him since he had been bombarded by everything in a short period of time.

As he looked at the sunset, he heard someone approaching him and he turned towards the noise to find Servine walking up to him. Her trademark stoic, almost neutral, expression had become almost a welcoming sight for the half-legendary whenever he saw her after his training.

“Hello, your highness,” Darwott said, nodding his head as she stopped next to him.

“Hello, Darwott,” Servine replied as she turned to the view the sunset, “And please, drop the formalities. You don't need to use them for me.”

The half-legendary nods, as he turned back to the sunset and looked on as the invading colors continued to stretch over the sky. For the next few minutes, neither Pokemon spoke or made a noise as they watched the sun setting.

“So,” the princess finally said, drawing his attention, “How has your training been going?”

“It's been tiring to say the least,” the half-legendary replied as he continued to look at the sky, “How has your training been going today?”

She gave an annoyed sigh upon hearing him ask that. She wasn't angry at him for asking that, it's just she had just left Arbor Area to get a break from her training. Ever since they had returned from their mission to stop the world being blanketed in darkness, her mother had been training her to ensure she could rule PokePark when her mother passes away. While it had been at least tolerable at the worst of times, today had been one of those days where it was unbearable.

“Worst than usual,” she replied after half a minute of silence with bitterness in her voice, “No thanks in part to Bayleef. I can't believe that he had to come to the Verdant Court during the last part of my training.”

Once she was done answering his question, the princess looked out of the corner of her eye to her friend shaking with his eyes narrowed as they screamed with anger.

“You never going to forgive him for what he did, are you?” she asked her friend, knowing about the foreign prince arresting him.

The half-legendary nodded, his gaze never leaving the sunset and she couldn't help but have a small smile on her face. This was something that she could relate to, as she herself disliked the prince and how much he didn't seem to understand that she didn't like him.

“Hey, Servine.”

Her smile disappeared as her right eye opened more in question as she turns to look at her friend.

“I have a question for you,” the half-legendary continued, “Have you thought about who you want to be your future mate?”

She looked away with a blush on her face before saying, “Yes. I-In fact, I do have someone in mind to be my mate.”

Another brief silence fell over the two, Darwott turned to face her as he started to speak.

“I know that you already have someone you want to be your mate, but I want to tell you something.”

She looks at him with wonder and curiosity, wanting to know what he wants to say to her.

“I...I love you,” the half-legendary confessed, causing her eyes to widen in surprise and her blush becoming deeper in color, “I know that you want someone else to be your mate, but I wanted to tell you my feelings.”

Darwott closed his eyes as they started to water and lowered his head, not wanting to see the anger that he believed she would have at him. However, he felt her hands on his arms and this made him look up, opening his eyes to find her with tears in her own eyes along with a gentle smile.

“Darwott, you are the one I want as my mate,” the princess told him, which caused him to open his eyes in surprise, “You have been there when I needed someone and I have fallen for you as well. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I want to be with you.”

At that moment, Darwott couldn't help but let some tears fall down his face as he hugged his friend and she returned the hug without a hesitation. Knowing that he wouldn't want to have another chance, he decided to take it before someone else tried to take their own chance.

“Servine, would you become my mate?” Darwott asked as the two continued to hug with tears going down his face.

“Yes! A thousand times yes!” Servine exclaims, tightening the hug as her tears started to fall as well with the sunset now nearly about to disappear.

-Xx-

“Darwott.”

The half-legendary snaps back to reality to see that both of them have stopped dancing and sees the princess looking towards the moon. Looking in her direction, he sees that the harvest moon is just about to clear the horizon and ascend into the sky.

“Servine,” Darwott says as they both turn to look back at each other, “It's time for the final part.”

Servine nods before they let go and the two take a step back as they close their eyes while taking deep breaths. With the moon about to appear in the sky, the two have to mentally prepare themselves so that the two can perform the final act of the ritual to be marked as mates. For both, this would be the last chance to back out, but in their own minds neither is going to stop when they are so close.

“Are you ready, Servine?” the half-legendary asks, as they open their eyes and look at each other seeing the longing for the other and the soft smile they both had.

“I'm ready,” the princess replies, taking one final deep breath to calm her nerves.

With this simple phrase, Darwott takes a step forward before kneeling on his left knee and taking her left hand in his right hand. He extends his left hand away from them, as if he was bowing to her, as the harvest moon rises to be fully seen as it escapes the horizon. The Lunar Dance Song is ready to be performed.

“My dearest friend, if you don't mind,

As he starts to sing, he places his left hand onto his chest.

“I'd like to join by your side,

He outstretches his left hand to her as he continues.

“So that we can gaze into the stars,

At this moment, Servine places her right hand in his left and joins him in the song as he stands.

“And sit together, now and forever,

As the two continue the song, their hands move past the others as Darwott pulls the princess into a hug and Servine's arms go over his own. However, they are unable to hear others yelling at them.

“For it is plain as anyone can see,

They lean in for a kiss as they finish the song.

“We're simply meant to be.”

Darwott and Servine meet each other in a kiss that seemingly blinds them to their surroundings, no part in them having their eyes closed. As they kiss, gold dust seemingly surrounds them as some of it goes to their faces and starts to etch a marking onto it.

For Darwott, the left side of his face is etched with a green vine with four leafs that goes around his eye.

As for Servine, the right side of her face receives a blue silhouette of a scalchop with a black blade being produced from the shell on her cheek along with under her eye.

The gold dust scatters the moment that the markings are etched onto their faces and they separate from the kiss, opening their eyes to simply want to communicate the love they have for each other through their eyes.

“Ahem!”

The eyes of Darwott and Servine widen in horror upon hearing that and turn to the princess' right...

...only to see a very angry Serperior glaring at them.

-Xx-

A few minutes earlier...

The party is now in full swing, with all those attending talking amongst themselves and some even dancing the night away in celebration. For many of those attending, they were enjoying their time as it had become a sort of relaxation from their everyday life.

Serperior has a small glass full of berry juice she is holding with a vine as she talks to her fellow Area Keeper Samurott, who is wearing a brown cloak along with a tan tunic with small sleeves covering his upper body and has a half-eaten apple in his hand. The two older Pokemon are enjoying their time together, laughing after the queen tells him a joke she heard from one of the foreign leaders.

“So, Samurott,” Serperior says after she calms down from her laughter, “Do you know how your adoptive son is adapting to his new role?”

“Well, I heard from Darkrai that he is getting distracted during his training,” Samurott replies after he takes a bite from his apple, “However, this past week has been better as he's been keeping his attention on his lessons.”

“Well, that's good,” the queen comments, taking a sip from her glass before continuing, “I hope that he manages to complete his training soon.”

“Of course,” the Cove Area Keeper says in agreement before frowning as he continues, “However, considering the Gabite incident and the backlash he gained from it, I'm worried that Darwott may have to leave PokePark.”

Serperior couldn't help but give her fellow Area Keeper a sympathetic smile, since she herself has seen the backlash from the incident. Not just from the foreign prince, but also from some of the Pokemon in Arbor Area expressing anger and fear of what the young otter has become. She knew that it is too late to change anything, especially since any way to change their opinion disappeared when he evolved.

“I may be able to help with that,” she speaks up after a half minute of silence, “If he needs to leave PokePark for his own safety, I've been told by King Sceptile that he is more than willing to give him a safe haven in his homeland.”

Samurott smiles from hearing that before saying, “Thank you, Serperior.”

“You're welcome, Samurott,” Serperior replies, “I've started to care for him much like you after what you told me of his mother.”

The two become quiet after that, with the only sounds from either being Serperior sipping from her glass and Samurott finishing his apple. To them, spending time like this is something they don't do it very often and they wanted to enjoy it for as long as they can.

“Samurott!”

Both older Pokemon turned towards the sound to find Pikachu, Piplup, and Pignite running up to them before stopping when they reach them. The three, much like the rest of the guests, are dressed up for the occasion with Pignite wearing what seems to be the antithesis to Samurott's costume. His costume is a black cloak along with a black tunic with long sleeves covering his upper body and the hood of his cloak is over his head with his ears going through holes placed in the hood.

For the party, Pikachu is wearing a red jacket with grey fluff as a collar with the jacket open to show his chest and black pants with a red belt through its loops. For Piplup, he is wearing a dark blue jacket with the sleeves looking like wings and the back of the jacket along with the sides of the sleeves being dark red in color. Along with that, he is wearing a headband with three fake feathers with red on them along with three small feathers on each side of the headband to make him look like a Braviary.

“Have you seen Darwott?” Pignite asks after taking a few deep breaths, “We've wanted to talk to him about his training and can't find him.”

“Oh, he's with Servine enjoying their time together,” Serperior replies, surprising the others.

“How did you know that?” Pikachu asks, with one of his eyebrows raised.

“Servine told me that they were going to do the Lunar Dance tonight,” the queen answers, with a grin on her face. This simple reaction, however, makes her fellow Area Keeper simply blink.

“You mean the mating ritual they are doing tonight,” Samurott deadpans, making Serperior look at him in confusion.

“What exactly do you mean?” She asks, her face still having a look of confusion.

“The “Lunar Dance” is also used as the name of the mating ritual for the Cresselia and Darkrai species,” Samurott explains, his face still having a deadpan look on it, “Which my adoptive son happens to be the son of.”

The moment he finishes speaking, the queen's eyes open wide as her jaw becomes slack and the glass of berry juice in her hands slips from her vine. The glass shatters into pieces landing on the ground as she realizes what exactly her daughter was telling her almost a week ago and what they are going to become.

“My lady,” a Bisharp on her guard asks, walking over to her and the others, “Are you alright?”

Within a split second, her facial expression hardens as she returns to her normal self as she tells the newly arrived Pokemon, “Bisharp, I need you to report to the lead of the guards and tell him to have the others to look after the party.”

“Yes, my lady,” the Bisharp says, bowing to her after receiving his orders and quickly leaving.

“Samurott, Pikachu, Pignite, Piplup,” Samurott continues, turning towards the four mentioned, “You are coming with me to find Darwott and Servine. Now.”

The moment she stops talking, she turns around and quickly makes her way to the exit of Verdant Court. While they four are shocked by the sudden change that the queen went through, they quickly run after her to catch up.

-Xx-

“This is one of the best spots to see the harvest moon,” Samurott tells the others as they enter a field that lies between Arbor Area and Cove Area.

“Considering that the moon is now in the sky,” Pikachu states as he raises a question, “Why would it be important to get a good view of the moon.”

“Darkrai told me that the ritual can only be performed in the light of the harvest moon,” Samurott replies quickly as he takes a look at the glowing moon, “So with the moon now fully in the sky, the two should be performing the final part of the ritual.”

The moment that he finishes saying that, all four suddenly start to hear someone starting to sing that they can tell that it wasn't far from them. They quickly look around them to see if they are able to find the source, especially since they couldn't tell who is singing.

“Wow.”

The two Area Keepers and the other two Pokemon look over to Pignite as he looks towards the ocean that was to their left when they arrived.

All he says is, “I see them.”

The other four turn to where Pignite is looking at and see the two Pokemon who they are looking for just to their left. When they see the two Pokemon, Darwott is standing up and they are entering a hug as Servine joins in on the singing.

“Servine!” Serperior shouts to them, taking off like a rocket towards the two as they simply continue singing.

“Darwott!” Samurott shouts as he starts to run after the queen along with the other three Pokemon following him.

However, they are too late as the two Pokemon finish the song and they kiss, with gold dust surrounding them as it seemingly etches a marking on each of their face during their kiss. By the time Serperior reaches them and stops a few feet away, the gold dust has scattered and they separate from the kiss. At that moment, the queen only makes a single noise by clearing her throat.

“Ahem!”

Darwott and Servine turn to look at her with terror in their eyes before the face of Darwott hardens into a scowl. The two quickly release from the hug, at which point the half-legendary places himself in front of the princess and places his right hand over the scalchop on his left thigh.

The queen is taken back by the actions of her daughter's friend, but does not show it in front of either her daughter or her friends. She knows that she must approach the situation carefully, as her understanding of the Darkrai species includes knowing that they will kill to protect their mate. This fact along with that of Darwott haven killed before means she needs to be cautious.

“Servine, why didn't you tell me you were going to do a mating ritual?” Serperior asks her daughter, with anger still being evident in her voice.

“I...I wasn't sure how you would react,” Servine replies in terror, “I know that I should have told you...but I was scared about what you would say.”

As the princess is speaking, Samurott and the other three Pokemon finally catch up with Serperior as they stand alongside the queen.

“I understand how you feel,” the Arbor Area Keeper tells her daughter, “However, not informing me is no excuse. We are returning to the party at this moment.”

“What will happen?” The princess asks, stepping closer to the half-legendary.

“I'm sorry, Servine,” Serperior answers, “But I forbid both of you from becoming mates.”

The second the queen finishes talking, Darwott takes the scalchop off and points the weapon at her with a blue blade with a black core suddenly extends from the shell. Due to how fast it happens, the queen is taken back and quickly takes what would be similar to a step back.

“Darwott, stand down!” Samurott says in a raised voice, furious that his adoptive son is threatening his fellow Area Keeper.

“I will not believe that we have done this ritual for nothing!” Darwott shouts, obvious anger in his voice as he keeps his weapon pointed towards the queen.

“Darwott, please calm down.” Servine quietly says, getting to Darwott's right side and placing her hands on his right arm. The half-legendary looks over at her to see how concern she is and allows her to lower his arm.

“Darwott, as much as I would like to come to your defense,” the Cove Area Keeper says, having calmed down a bit from his son's threat, “I have to agree with the queen. Not only do you not have the permission from the queen, but you are also not of a royal bloodline.”

“That's not true,” the half-legendary quickly counters to his adoptive father, “As the child of a Legendary Pokemon, I could easily argue that I'm in a royal bloodline just by being related to Darkrai.”

“Look, Darwott,” Samurott says with a sigh, “I'm not going to argue with you on this, so-”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Pikachu finally speaks up, running between both groups and raising his arms to keep them from getting closer, “I don't think we need to argue about this. As far as I see it, all that is wrong here is that Darwott and Servine didn't properly explain the situation.”

“I have to agree,” Piplup says, “Despite everything, they didn't do anything that might be irreversible.”

Samurott and Serperior look over at Pignite, who looks at them and just nods his head. They both know what he means and they calm down a bit. After a few seconds, she decides to ask the two something and has to tell them both something she just thought of.

“Darwott,” the queen says with a normal tone to her voice, “Are the markings on your face permanent?”

“No, you majesty,” the half-legendary answers, calming down himself, “According to my father, the facial markings will disappear after a week if we do not mate.”

“Very well then,” Serperior replies, making the two younger Pokemon look at her, “I will ponder whether I will give you my consent to become mates. I promise that I will try to get give you an answer before the week is up.”

“T-thank you, mother,” her daughter says, bowing her head to Serperior with Darwott doing the same.

“Y-your majesty,” Darwott says with slight terror in his voice as the blade of the scalchop retracts, “I-I'm sorry for how I acted. I-”

“No need to apologize, Darwott,” Serperior interrupts, “I understand the protective nature of the Darkrai species when it comes to those they care for. Please understand that I don't think any less about you for that.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Darwott says, placing his scalchop back on his left thigh.

“Hey, if I may say something,” Pignite finally says, gaining everyone's attention, “I think everyone at the party is probably wondering where we are right now.”

“Agreed,” Serperior says, starting to go back to Arbor Area, “Let's go back, alright.”

“Right,” Samurott replies as he starts to walk as well, “Come on, everyone.”

The other three Pokemon quickly walk after the two Area Keepers while Darwott and Servine stay behind. Looking at each other, they give each other a gentle smile before they lean in and give each other a kiss.

“Come on, you two!”

The two separate and, looking into each others eyes one more time, they start running to catch up to the others.