Lunar duo
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The subject of this article has no official name. The name currently in use is a fan designator; see below for more information. |
Lunar duo is a fan term for the Legendary duo of Sinnoh that consists of the Legendary Pokémon Cresselia and the Mythical Pokémon Darkrai. Cresselia and Darkrai are commonly seen as polar opposites, with the former being based on the crescent moon and the latter on the new moon. Also, Cresselia and Darkrai reside on Fullmoon Island and Newmoon Island, respectively, which are direct mirror images of each other. Cresselia and Darkrai are also known as the subconscious duo because of how Darkrai is said to give people nightmares, while Cresselia gives people pleasant dreams. Furthermore, Cresselia and Darkrai also appear in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky as enemies.
History
Their legend is introduced in Generation IV, where the two each resided on an Island: Cresselia on Fullmoon Island, and Darkrai on Newmoon Island. Each Island is directly facing each other and no Pokémon can be found aside from the duo. When Darkrai casts nightmares on the people, Cresselia arrives and replaces them with pleasant dreams.
Cresselia
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- Main article: Cresselia (Pokémon)
Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon, can be found roaming Sinnoh in Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, and Shining Pearl. She is also available on Marvelous Bridge in Black 2 and White 2, on Crescent Isle in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and Ultra Space Wilds, specifically in the Cliff World in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
Cresselia's stats are more defensive than its counterpart, having a base 120 for Defense and 130 for Special Defense, as well as having base 120 HP. Cresslia's signature move, Lunar Dance, causes the user to faint, but restores the HP and PP and removes all non-volatile status conditions (except fainting) of the Pokémon that is sent out to take its place. Its signature move in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Lunar Blessing, instead restores 50% of Cresselia's HP, cures its status conditions, and obscures it.
In the Sinnoh games, Cresselia can be found on Fullmoon Island after visiting Sailor Eldritch's son who fell into a sleep which he cannot be awaken and is plagued by nightmares. After interacting with Cresselia, she will leave a Lunar Feather and start roaming.
In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Cresselia can be encountered on the Marvelous Bridge after visiting the Strange House.
In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Cresselia can be found at Crescent Isle, while in the center area of it is a strange ring hovering in the air through which the player can encounter.
In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Cresselia can be found in the Ultra Space Wilds by following a red Ultra Wormhole to the Cliff World during the Ultra Warp Ride.
In Pokémon Sword and Shield, Cresselia can encountered in the Max Lair during Dynamax Adventures.
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Cresselia appears as an NPC, who has made it her mission to foil Darkrai's plot of plunging everyone in the world into an endless nightmare. After healing Azurill of his nightmare, she joins the player's team as a guest in Dark Crater. After defeating Darkrai, Cresselia will offer to officially join the team back at Sharpedo Bluff.
In Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, Cresselia appears as the guardian of the Yellow Gem.
Darkrai
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- Main article: Darkrai (Pokémon)
Darkrai is the Pitch-Black Pokémon, found on Newmoon Island in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum with the use of the Member Card.
Darkrai's stats are on the offensive side, unlike Cresselia, whose stats are more defensive, having 135 Special Attack and 125 Speed. Darkrai's signature move, Dark Void, puts all adjacent foes to sleep, with an accuracy of 50% for each Pokémon (80% prior to Generation VII).
In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Darkrai made Sailor Eldritch's son fall into a sleep and be plagued by nightmares. It can be found on Newmoon Island after using the Member Card to enter the locked inn at Canalave City, whereupon after going to sleep the player will experience a nightmare and wake up on Newmoon Island, where Darkrai can be found and be able to battle.
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Darkrai is revealed to be the game's main antagonist in the post-game story. He wants to cover the world in darkness and was behind the collapse of the Temporal Tower in the game's main storyline. His interference is also why the player was separated from Grovyle and turned into a Pokémon. In the post-game story, he turns his attention to distorting the fabric of space to cover the world in darkness.
In PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, Darkrai is the game's main antagonist. He resided in Wish Park and wants to merge the Wish Park with PokéPark.
In Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, Darkrai is the final boss, summoned by Blake Hall.
Similar movesets
The following are Cresselia and Darkrai's level-up movesets from Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
| Lv. |  Cresselia Psychic |
 Darkrai Dark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tackle | Shadow Sneak |
| 6 | Confusion | Hypnosis |
| 12 | Slash | Hex |
| 19 | Psycho Cut | Nasty Plot |
| 27 | Recover | Dark Pulse |
| 36 | Psychic | Shadow Ball |
| 57 | Moonblast | Psychic |
| 66 | Lunar Blessing | Dark Void |
| Moves in bold get STAB. Moves in italics do no damage. | ||
Similar base stats
| Pokémon | Cresselia |
Darkrai | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP |
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| Attack |
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| Defense |
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| Sp. Attack |
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| Sp. Defense |
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| Speed |
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| Total | 580 | 600 |
In the anime
- See also: Darkrai (M10)
In the Pokémon anime, Cresselia and Darkrai debuted separately, both having met Ash in one way or the other.
Cresselia and Darkrai made their debut appearance in the anime in Sleepless In Pre-Battle!. Cresselia normally returns to her shrine on Fullmoon Island during a certain time of the year when Darkrai also comes by to cause nightmares. In the episode, however, it came earlier due to it being lured by Team Rocket's machine that was causing nightmares. She may also leave her feathers, which people find to help stop the nightmares caused by Darkrai. Cresselia is normally in the same place as Darkrai to stop it giving nightmares but due to Darkrai's early coming, the people in Canalave City had nightmares for several days. One night, Darkrai was concealing itself when Cresselia used her abilities to reveal it from the darkness. The two then battled and Darkrai hid itself once more in the shadows.
Darkrai starred in the first Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl movie, The Rise of Darkrai as the hero of the movie, taking the task of holding off the fighting between Dialga and Palkia until Ash and Dawn could put the Oración disk in the Space-Time Towers' music player to calm the two Legendary Pokémon down. It reappeared in a cameo in the end credits of Arceus and the Jewel of Life.
A Cresselia first appeared in a short cameo in the beginning of Giratina and the Sky Warrior. A Darkrai appeared in the Pikachu short, Pikachu, What's This Key?. Another one appeared in Dream a Little Dream from Me!. In League Unleashed!, Tobias in the Lily of the Valley Conference was shown to have a Darkrai. In the following episode, Conway revealed that he had easily defeated eight Gym Leaders of the Sinnoh region using only Darkrai. In the Sinnoh League semi-finals, this Darkrai easily defeated Ash's Heracross, Torkoal, and Gible. However, it was defeated by Ash's Sceptile in The Semi-Final Frontier!.
In the manga
Movie adaptations
- Main article: Darkrai (M10)
Darkrai plays a major role in the first Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl movie, The Rise of Darkrai. Likewise, it appears in the manga adaptation of the film by Ryo Takamisaki.
Pokémon Adventures
FireRed & LeafGreen arc
Sird let out a beam of light from a Poké Ball upon seeing Deoxys flying away. Thinking that Sird was trying to retrieve Deoxys, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Silver tried to stop her, and Mewtwo charged into the light of the Poké Ball. Within moments, the five Pokédex holders were turned into stone, and a black shadow appeared in front of Sird.
Diamond & Pearl arc
When Sird reappeared in front of her Team Galactic Commander colleagues and explained what happened, the black shadow was revealed to be Darkrai, though Sird still did not reveal its name.
Platinum arc
It was revealed that Sird had released Darkrai into the Distortion World due to it being too difficult for her to control. It first faced its arch-rival Cresselia. Charon later took control of the Pokémon, and, along with Giratina and Heatran, used it in a battle against the Sinnoh Legendary Pokémon in the climax of the chapter. Darkrai was later freed from Charon's control, and departed to parts unknown.
Cresselia appears under the ownership of Palmer, who caught her on Fullmoon Island in order to give Sailor Eldritch's son the cure to wake up from a terrible nightmare. Cresselia followed her Trainer into the Distortion World where she squared up against her nemesis, Darkrai. Eventually, Platinum got on Cresselia in order to chase Charon who was commanding Giratina to fly him out of the Distortion World.
Pokémon Try Adventure
A Cresselia debuted in TA26.
Pocket Monsters DP
A Darkrai appeared in The Illusory Pokémon Darkrai Appears!!.
Related articles
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