The elevator doors shut with a ding. 
       As the elevator went up, an explosion rattled the whole elevator 
shaft.
       “Umm, that’s probably not good.” Red said looking up at the floor 
ticker.
       Jake knelt in the corner, and pulled open the maintenance door. The 
ground was coming toward Jake really fast. Jake slammed the maintenance door, 
and looked at Red. “This is gonna hurt.”
       The elevator slammed into the ground floor, with a loud clang. 
       “That was pleasant.” Red growled sarcastically.
       “Looks like it’s the stairs for us.” Jake tried to stand on his feet, 
but was too disoriented. The elevator doors slid open, and Kim stood there in 
the doorway.
       “Huh? Kim! What’re you doing here?” Jake said smiling.
       Without saying a word, she put all of the strength in her right arm 
into a well aimed smack across the side of Jake’s face.
       “THAT, Jake is for not telling me what you intended to do!” She yelled 
angrily. Then her pink eyes softened, and she knelt next to him. She wrapped 
her arms around Jake’s neck and kissed his cheek. “And that was for leaving 
one too many clues.” She added with a wink.
       
       Team Rocket HQ
       Fifth Floor
       
       It had been about five minutes since Trent ordered Electrode to blow 
the elevator’s cables. If Brooks was still alive there was no way he would 
survive his next little “Ace” up his sleeve. His hand drifted down to his 
waist, and tapped a masterball on his belt. He would not allow himself to be 
taken to jail. 
       Trent checked the security cameras that oversaw the stair wells. Three 
people were already on the fifth floor. 
       An explosion at the front of the room caused Trent to stop breathing 
for a fraction of a minute. Brooks stood in the hole in the wall with two of 
his friends next to him.
       Trent had no choice. 
       He removed the masterball from his belt. “Well well well,” He said 
tauntingly, “Jake and his little cronies. Sorry Jake, but your path ends 
right here. Darkrai, now’s the time.”
       
       Darkrai? What was a Darkrai? Jake’s question was answered quickly as 
it was released from its masterball. The pokemon was five feet tall, not 
including the eight inches of space between it and the ground as it hovered. 
Darkrai wore a black and ragged cloak. 
       Jake took a faltering step back, but neither Kim, nor Red noticed. For 
almost an eternity, Jake and Darkrai stared each other down. 
       Before Jake could react to the gut wrenching feeling he had in his 
stomach, another explosion diverted his attention. Two more pokemon he had 
never seen before appeared out of the dust. 
       After a long pause, General Trent shouted, “FINE! Darkrai, Dark Void.” 
       The two legendary pokemon, both attacked, sending Darkrai through the 
wall into the next room. Darkrai disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
       During the confusion, Trent tried to escape.
       “HAH! No!” Jake grabbed Trent by his coat and slammed him into the 
floor, followed by a hard right hook to Trent’s face. “You’re under arrest!” 
Jake pulled out his badge. “You say one word, and this cute li’l grass 
pokemon’ll batter you.” He added noticing Kim’s Chikorita was standing near 
him.
       
       Outside of Team Rocket HQ
       
       Trent was neatly tied to a nearby tree until the police arrived. 
       Ben was the first one to show up, with a congratulatory soda pop.
       “OOOH, hey I’m parched.” Jake said snatching the drink from Ben’s 
hand, and taking a long gulp. 
       “So, you busted Trent.” Ben patted Jake’s shoulder. “Whadya think we 
oughta do with him?”
       “I don’t know. He’s pretty annoying. He’s been bragging for the last 
thirty minutes about how Team Rocket’s gonna get us all.” Jake said rubbing 
his chin. “Let’s feed ‘em to Rascal.” 
       The lion pokemon bore his teeth and growled at Trent, whose eyes got 
very wide.
       “I don’t think that’s legal.” Ben glanced around to make sure no one 
was watching, and kicked Trent’s food forcefully. “Something or other about 
police brutality. Maybe you should turn him over to me, and I’ll wait for the 
local police.”
       “Thanks Ben.” Jake tugged at the brim of his hat in acknowledgement. 
“I’m gonna go find Kim.”
       “Red, will you be ok ‘til I get back?” Jake asked.
       When Red nodded, Jake released Sundance from his GS Ball.
       “Let’s go find Kim.” He said to Sundance. 
       =Okay.= Sundance lowered his head, so Jake could climb on his back. 
       They flew all around Saffron City until they came to a cemetery. Jake 
saw Kim sitting in front of a tombstone. =Down there.= he told Sundance who 
didn’t say anything.
       They lightly landed, in the back of the cemetery. 
       Jake crept up behind Kim. “BOO”
       Kim jumped. “Hey that was mean!” she said with a big smile.
       Jake gave her a hug. 
       Kim turned back to the tombstone. “Dad…this is Jake.”
       Jake smiled to himself. This wasn’t unlike what he would do back in 
Hoenn. Jake remembered standing in front of his own father’s tombstone. His 
hand gripped his father’s badge.
       “Hi…” was all he could manage.
       Kim leaned over and whispered, “His name is Alex.”
       “Ah… Hi Alex, nice to meet you.” Jake said to her father’s grave.
       After sitting together for a long while, Jake finally spoke up. “Red 
n’ me are gonna have to go in a while. We’ve still got warrants to serve, and 
I don’t wanna lose Nikolai Kruschev.”
       Kim looked at Jake, her pink eyes filling with tears. “You’re going to 
get yourself killed.” 
       Jake chuckled. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
       “What do you mean by that?” Kim asked.
       Jake realized that he said too much. “It doesn’t matter.”
       
       Slateport City
       Four years ago
       
       “Aeroblast!” Jake commanded and Sundance faithfully obeyed. The beam 
hit Nikolai Kruschev, and kept going into the final support column of the 
ware house. 
       Jake walked over and nudged Nikolai’s body with his boot. That was the 
end of him. Jake glanced around after hearing the creaking of iron bending. 
The building was collapsing. Blocking his escape was a cloaked, five foot 
pokemon hovering eight inches off of the ground. The pokemon chuckled evilly 
as the warehouse began to collapse. 
       Suddenly the roof caved in on top of Jake crushing him instantly. He 
couldn’t feel the lower half of his body and a piece of iron had impaled him 
through the lung.
       =Jake?= That voice again. It was the Lugia that helped him escape from 
his chains. =Are you okay?=
       “I can’t feel my legs. I feel so weak.” Jake gasped.
       =Hang in there kid, it’s gonna be alright.=
       “I can’t…” Jake blacked out. He was dead.
       
       Saffron City
       Present Day
       
       “Red?” Kim wanted him to tell her about Jake.
       “Yes.” Red glanced away from his Poliwrath.
       “How long have you known Jake?” Kim asked.
       “’Bout four years.” Red handed some poffins to Poliwrath who happily 
ate them. “He showed up in Vermillion City lookin’ for a big pokemon wherin’ 
a tattered black cloak.” 
       “You mean Darkrai?” Kim realized it was the pokemon they’d seen on the 
top floor of Team Rocket HQ. 
       Red nodded.
       “What does Darkrai have to do with Jake?”
       “He cursed Jake. Jake searched for him for three years, until he 
finally gave up.” Red told Kim.
       “How did he curse Jake?” Kim asked.
       “He constantly has nightmares.” Red whispered to make sure no one 
heard. When Kim didn’t seem to understand, he added, “Did he ever tell you 
about Slateport City?” 
       Kim shook her head.
       “Well, he went to Slateport City after he was beaten by Brendan Birch. 
A scientist who had a vendetta against Jake’s father kidnapped Jake, and 
tortured him as part of a science experiment. Sundance helped him escape and 
together they destroyed the warehouse that he was keeping them locked up in.” 
Red paused for breath. “The building was about to collapse when he saw 
Darkrai. At that moment he knew he was going to die.” Red flashed a grin at 
Kim. “I don’t believe what he told me after that, but he said the warehouse 
gave in to the pressure and caved in on its self. Jake swears he and Sundance 
were killed. He says he died slowly and painfully. But when he woke up, he 
was outside of the warehouse, and so was Sundance. Neither had a scratch on 
them, except for six long scars on Jake’s back which came from the torture. 
Someone or something rescued them from that building and brought them back to 
life.”
       
       Somewhere in Saffron City
       
       Jake turned corner, and there he was. Darkrai himself.
       “Hello Jacob; it’s been a long time.” He said coolly.
       “Too long.” Jake growled. “It was you that pulled me out of that 
warehouse that day wasn’t it?”
       “Well, I couldn’t allow my servant’s death now could I?”
       Jake’s heart began racing. “Servant?”
       “Yes. Little did you know, you were doing my bidding.” Darkrai 
sneered. “And now, that that’s cleared up, are you familiar with the legend 
of Sir Black?” 
       “You mean the rogue knight that stole King Andrew’s treasure, two 
hundred years ago?” Jake’s father had told him the story when he was a baby. 
“The legend was that a dark knight had kidnapped the King’s daughter, and Sir 
Black was given the treasure to trade for the Princess. Instead, Black stole 
the Princess back from the dark knight and the Princess ran away with Sir 
Black and took the treasure with them.”
       “Somewhat true.” Darkrai confirmed. “In reality, after the dark knight 
took the Princess, Black marshaled a thousand knights to fight the dark 
knight’s army. The armies clashed a hundred miles away from King Andrew’s 
court. This was a diversion so that the dark knight could take over the 
kingdom without resistance. When Black found out he was furious. He brought 
back the hundred knights that remained of his army and rescued the Princess 
from the citadel, and stole the King’s treasure from the dark knight.  Only 
Black, the Princess, and twelve other knights survived. A month later Black 
gave a rose made of solid gold, to each of the twelve knights, and had a rose 
of diamond made for himself. They swore allegiance to the Princess, and would 
protect her until their last breath. The roses were made to be passed on to 
their children, in case the Knights of Roses were ever called upon again.”
       “That’s all good, but what’s it got to do with me?” Jake asked 
impatiently.
       “You are a descendant of Black.” Darkrai answered.
       Jake remembered seeing a long thin saber mounted above the fireplace, 
in his old home. A rose made of diamond dangled from the hilt. “My father 
told me that once, but I didn’t believe him. My name is Jacob Black Brooks.”
       “I am destined to haunt your family until the end of time. I’ll haunt 
your children, and your grandchildren.” Darkrai said. “I even haunted Black 
when he was in his prime.”
       “Why?” 
       “Because, that is how it is supposed to be.” Darkrai held out his 
hand. “Now, sleep.”
       Jake became woozy. Darkrai was using hypnosis. He glanced around and 
fell on the ground. His mind fell into darkness.