Night. The period of time when the sun shines on the other side of the earth. Without the light, the events of the earth are obscured from sight. No action taken on the crimes done in the shade, judgement withheld, for there is no proof to be found.

Night is the time of darkness. The darkest of nights, especially, are times of secrecy.

On such nights, "secret" meetings are held. "Secret" deals are made. "Secret" missions are assigned and carried out. Assassinations, robbery, affairs – these are all events in this period of darkness.

On one such night, promises are made and broken. A Pokémon's death warrant is signed.

***

That night, there was no stars in the sky, or even a moon to illuminate the dark world beneath. The weather was that bad; a curtain of clouds so large and dense that nothing could pierce through it, not even the mountain that the Wish Pokémon took shelter in.

Jirachi watched from the entrance of her cave. From her vantage point, nothing should have been hidden from her view, and yet she might as well have been blinder than a Zubat. Not a patch of the grassy landscape at the foot of the mountain could be made out in the darkness. Not a single structure, green, brown or grey. Only black could be seen.

She felt the winds that blew past her, heard her wishing tags and fabric-like streamers flutter about. While there was no rain, lightning flashed behind the dark clouds and thunder caused the earth to shudder; and yet again, the solid darkness proved to be impenetrable.

It seemed like a perfect scene for an omen, Jirachi noted. And that was saying a lot, because she was not a big believer in omens.

A storm is brewing, she mused. Both literally and figuratively.

"What do you say, Jirachi?"

The Wish Pokémon drew her attention back to the conversation at hand. "You are making this incredibly difficult for me."

"Difficult? For you?" Laughter echoed in the close enclosure of the cave. "You're the Wish Pokémon. Just say the words, and it will happen. Or even Doom Desire –"

"I do not wish harm on innocents," Jirachi retorted.

She was replied with another low chuckle. Its source was hidden in the shadows of the cave. The weather didn't help, either; if anything, the storm only caused the already poor lighting indoors to deteriorate, further obscuring the creature.

"Innocents?" The visitor scoffed. "Nobody in this world, human or Pokémon, is truly innocent. You of all people know that."

Jirachi clenched her jaw. The words struck something in her – something she wondered just how her interlocutor knew, and how much. "That's none of your business," she weakly replied.

"Ah, but it is now," the creature in the shadows said. "You have no reason not to do as I say."

"Except for the fact that one, it involves murder and two, it's utter insanity?"

"You've killed before –"

"That is different!" Jirachi barked.

"– and as for insanity . . ." More laughter, this time a halting, maniacal giggle. "If you don't do what I say . . . let's just say my condition is only going to get a lot worse."

Guilt was a stab of a blade into Jirachi's guts. She pitied the miserable creature before her for its unfortunate fate. But to condemn someone to death?

"Cresselia wouldn't have wanted this," she tried to reason.

"Her own death warrant? Of course not."

"You know what I mean."

A pause. The creature loved dramatics. "No, I do not. Please enlighten me."

"I don't know what you are," Jirachi said, "but in terms of mental capabilities, Cresselia is the strongest Pokémon I know. No matter what you do, you can't replace her."

"Then maybe you don't know me." Before she could put in any more remarks, Jirachi was cut off. "Enough of small talk. We're wasting time. Just say the words: I wish that Cresselia dies."

"It's not that simple –"

"Then do whatever you have to."

"I need your approval," Jirachi stated. "I promise to set you free, but you have to be willing to accept this wish."

"Of course I accept!" The voice turned desperate. "Just do it already!"

Jirachi had to suppress a smirk. It was true that she needed the confirmation of the wish-maker to activate her powers. The requirement to follow whatever the wish-maker asks goes without saying.

But loopholes always existed. Especially when two statements were made in one wish.

Normally, she would have outright denied such a ludicrous request. But this was no normal night – she had been informed of this early on, and had orders to deal with this – specific orders of a much higher priority that she planned on following, and willingly. As if she would help this monster.

Jirachi was going to grant a wish, but it will not be anything the wish-maker had expected. Most of all, she was not going to kill her friend.

Closing her two eyes, she spread her arms out wide and her levitating body rose higher, almost touching the ceiling of the cavern.

Arceus, she called out with her mind. Contrary to common misconception, she does not grant wishes – everything goes through Arceus. That made her less of a Wish Pokémon and more of a medium.

As the familiar feeling of power reached her, the eyelids on her stomach twitched, then snapped open. It was a peculiar thing, her third eye – while it cannot see any physical objects, but it can peer into the hearts of others, to distinguish the true intentions of the wish-maker.

No darkness can hide itself from her True Eye.

Through her "spiritual insight", as she called it, she could see the damage the corruption had dealt to her client. The malice and hatred within the soul are no mere hints, yet surpassing all those is the sheer amount of pain. Truly, every fiber of its being practically screamed in agony that it was hard not to take pity.

If Jirachi could do something to help, she would. But death was not the answer.

Lord Arceus, she called again. I have been asked for the death of a Pokémon – an Immortal One, even – but I shall not grant that death – at least, not a physical one. I appeal to you that you clear the memories of Cresselia, to end her current life and give her a chance at a new one. Help this miserable creature. May the rest be done in alignment to your will.

She felt the words ascent to the heavens, straight to the Pokémon of Creation. Without doubt, those words will be acted on, so that was a mountain climbed.

Now she had to hope nothing goes horribly wrong, unlike the last few times she granted wishes. Promising enough so far.

To herself, she murmured, "Goodbye, Cresselia."

The overhearing being in the shadows grinned.

"Goodbye, Cresselia." The words were barely a whisper.

***

Had the clouds that night be blown away, the moonlight would still do not much good on anyone's vision, for there was still a severe lack of it.

That night, the new moon hung invisibly against the black canvas of night time.

X-x-X

Well that was a sob job at premonition/hiding a mysterious antagonist/my first prologue ever.

Yes I am well aware that Jirachi sounded like she was praying I had to consciously remind myself not to end the sentence with Amen.

On the bright side, I have learnt a new word in the process of writing this!

Another similar word is collocutor.

Vocabulary +1

:D

As usual if you enjoyed that leave a like and subscribe –

Crap I've watched too much YouTube

Idk what is this

Yea

Bye

– Gold