Chapter 4 - Dark Lies

The Daycare has long been know to Pokémon as a place to relax, have a drink, and feel a little loved... at least for the night. Occasionally, some of the Pokémon got into a little trouble--whether they had a few glasses too many of Lemonade, or just got a little carried away in the night, sometimes eggs happened.

Those who ran The Daycare feigned innocence each time an egg appeared, and it was suspected that the Trainers themselves liked to whistle their way out of a reason the egg's 'mysterious' appearance. What went on in The Daycare was best left to The Daycare, and that was how both Trainers and Pokémon liked it.

Bane, like many, found comfort in the occasional night at The Daycare, sipping back Lemonade and enjoying a few Lemonade induced brawls. He usually managed to keep his intake of Lemonade in check, though it was a particularly bad night when he was approached by a plump and bold Ditto.

As a young Zorua, Bane had witnessed the move Dark Pulse. He had trained and trained in hopes of learning the move, but through studying found he would never have the ability to use Dark Pulse. His anger and frustration lead him to train further, to release the bitterness inside, and he swiftly evolved into a Zoroark.

That had to have been some twenty levels ago, though, and the anger still resided deep inside him. Tonight was worse than most, though, for he had just seen a Lucario learn Dark Pulse and jealously was slowly overtaking him. Deep in a glass of Lemonade, Bane was oblivious to the Ditto that stood impatiently by his table.

"Hey, you!" the Ditto said impatiently, "You're taking up tablespace just sitting there--drink up, find a lady, or get out."

Bane bared his fangs at the Pokémon, his claws scraping against his glass as he squeezed it. "Shove off."

The Ditto gave him a sultry smile and stretched a purple and shapeless arm towards Bane, rubbing his arm teasingly and getting closer. "I get it--you're working too hard... you need time to... play," it said in his ear.

Bane jerked away from the Ditto and snapped his fangs threateningly. "I said shove off! I don't work that way," he snarled.

"Oh?" the Ditto asked, before its face morphed into realization. "Oooh, I see... don't worry, I can play that way too." Shifting it transformed into a Zoroark, identical to Strei but for a purple band in its mane.

Strei tensed as the fake Zoroark grabbed his hand, leading him to a back room for privacy.


In the morning, when Bane finally awoke, he found himself alone. Looking around for the Ditto, he saw nothing but empty bedsheets and, where the Ditto should have been, an egg with a note by it.

Startled, Bane grabbed the note, his eyes skimming over the two words written on it: I lied.

"That deceitful whore! I'll kill it!" Bane roared, tearing the note to shreds. As he reached for the egg, ready to smash it, he hesistated. Slowly, placing a paw on the egg, he felt the warmth inside it and sighed in defeat. It was his, he couldn't destroy it.


Over time the egg hatched, a new life beginning in the form of a young female Zorua. Bane named her Lady Zero, but his love for her was limited and he rarely glanced his daughter's way. He made it clear to Zero that she was not a planned part of his life, his ultimate disappointment in her being that she, like him, could not learn Dark Pulse.

Strict teachings and constant training forced Zero to grow and mature swiftly, her childhood left behind before it ever really began. As an adult Zoroark she no longer needed training from her father, but still she could sense his displeased attitude towards her. Furious and frustrated by his lack of love, Zero trained day in and day out on her Illusion.

She mastered the ability to disguise herself as another Pokémon, but it wasn't enough. With a specific goal in mind, she continued training until she sucessfully was able to mimic not only a Pokémon's appearance, but also their spirit and energy. With her ability in check, she plotted out how to win her father's favor once and for all.

On a perfect summer's evening, Zero located her target--Ile, a Weavile constantly seen around a blind Lucario named Strei, a Lucario Zero knew for a fact could use Dark Pulse. Ile wasn't nearly as strong as Zero had thought her to be, and she quickly took her down.

"Shh," she said softly, "I just need that adorable face of yours for the night." Lady Zero was armed with only the best moves for the night, even teaching herself how to shed fake tears just incase Strei proved to be a little difficult in tricking.

Shifting and disquising herself as Ile, Zero hid Ile in a bin of plush toys in the small human preschool near The Daycare. Flicking the lights off with a white tipped finger, she slipped off to find Strei.

Locating Strei proved to be no challenge, for he was on his way to the preschool playground just as Zero exited the preschool. With him was Kensa the Infernape, who had always desired to be the one who gave Strei the right push into his relationship with Ile. Zero approached the two bravely, making sure one last time that she was fully disguised as Ile before speaking up.

"Hey Strei," she said, copying Ile's voice. "Are you... busy tonight?"

Strei sniffed the air and turned his head in her direction. "Hi Ile... huh, no--I don't think I am," he replied, his tail swishing slowly to the side as he talked to her. Zero looked at the handsome Lucario, taking note of how good she had done in picking him--it was clear how much he liked Ile, when his tail wagged so childishly for her voice.

"Um, I was thinking then... maybe you'd like to spend some time with me? I have something special planned--we've... well, it's been a year since we met now, as of last week, I thought we could celebrate!" Zero said, forcing herself to be a little shy as she spoke to Strei, the way Ile was every time she saw her blind hero.

Kensa grabbed Strei's arm and shook him excitedly. "Aw yeah, dude! Say yes, say yes!"

Strei hesitated and sniffed the air again, his head turning to Kensa and back to Zero. "I see, yeah--okay," he said, stumbling as Kensa shoved him towards Zero and patted him on the back.

"Good luck!" Kensa said encouragingly, scampering off. To Zero's annoyance, her turned back for a moment to wink at her before actually leaving.

"So, what did you plan?" Strei asked, pawing at the adamant orb hanging around his neck.

"Something special..." Zero said darkly, grabbing Strei's paw and leading him towards The Daycare. They wordlessly slipped past the Daycare Woman, Zero dropping a few coins on the front desk as they went into the back rooms of The Daycare. There were Pokémon everywhere, drinking Lemonade, brawling, or sitting with their lovers. Those without lovers enjoyed the company of The Daycare's numerous Ditto's, all of which were easy to point out due to their purple eyes and accessories. Somewhere in here was Zero's own mother, and she quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts of her missing parent. She wasn't here to please her unwanted mother, she was here to get her father's approval.

"Here Strei, taste this," she said sweetly as she handed Strei a glass of Lemonade. "It's so yummy!" Zero felt sick just from saying the word 'yummy', but it had to be done.

Strei sniffed the glass and sipped its contents, smacking his lips from the mixture of sweet and bitter juice before downing the glass. It took only one glass for Strei to get a little wobbly on his feet, and Zero encouraged him to have another before leading him further back into The Daycare.

"Strei... I've thought really hard about this... do you, um, want to be partners?" Zero asked, snuggling up to Strei and stroking the spikes on his paws admirably.

"Partners?" Strei asked, his speech a little slurred. "In combat?"

"No, silly," Zero said, "Partners." She pressed her lips against his and scratched behind his ear with one of her claws. She wanted to laugh at how easy this was--it should've been harder.


In the morning, Zero slipped back into the preschool and grabbed the real Ile, leaving her in The Daycare with Strei so they could wake up together. At this point, they would both wake up with a headache, neither of them remembering the night before. It was a perfectly executed plan, and Zero left The Daycare with ease, smuggling an egg out with her as she left.

She quickly set out to find her father, checking his usual hangouts before locating him in the Dreamyard. He was rapidly raking his claws across the cement walls of the Dreamyard, sharpening them to fine and dangerous points before punching the wall with such force that it cracked under the impact, though it did not collapse.

"Hey, I've got something for you," Zero said, interrupting Bane's workout.

"What?" he asked, striking the wall a final time before turning towards her.

"The kid you've always wanted... He'll grow up with Dark Pulse, he'll be the strongest Zoroark there ever was," Zero said smugly, presenting the egg to her father.

Bane inhaled sharply, observing the egg and clenching his fists together. "That's impossible," he said, though a small smile was starting to play on his lips, "Who's the father?"

"Oh, you know... that Lucario named Strei," Zero said, "It was a piece of cake to trick him. He could barely hold his Lemonade."

The smile vanished immediately, Bane straightening up with shock. "Who!?" he asked.

"Strei--I used my Illusion to trick him, it was easy," Zero said, gloating over her victory.

"You did what? How could you!?" Bane snapped, "You took advantage of one of my teammates?!"

"Yeah, but I did it for you!" Zero hastily attempted to remind him why she had done what she'd done, but Bane was too furious to care.

"I didn't want that! Get out of my sight, don't come back until you've learned how an honest Pokémon achieves their goals!" he snarled, lunging towards her just enough to frighten her.

"Fine! Guess you don't want this!" Zero screeched, hurling the egg at the ground.

Bane yelped and caught the egg, stopping it from a horrible destruction as it sped towards the hard ground.

Lady Zero snapped her teeth together and snarled before darting away, though her cussing could be heard far off in the woods long after she had left the Dreamyard.

Bane rubbed the eggs shell and groaned--he would fix this situation as best he could, Strei and Ile would never have to know what really happened--he would just have to tell them they had both gone a little overboard with Lemonade last night. As for the egg... he would figure out how to deal with it later, but for now he would protect it.

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