Dusknoir (Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky)

Dusknoir (Japanese: ヨノワール Yonoir) is a non-player character from. He is a supporting character that plays a significant role in the game. He was first introduced to the player as a famous and wise Pokémon, exploring the world and solving mysteries, but later turns out to be a main antagonist. At the end of, he is reformed.

History
Primal Dialga sends Dusknoir, his henchman, back in time to pursue and the main character undefineds. In the present time, he successfully pretends to be an explorer who is famous for his wisdom and solo explorations. At first, when Dusknoir meets the player, he does not know the player's name, and actually rescues the player and the partner from the clan ( clan in Explorers of Sky). He portrays Grovyle as a criminal from the future, and says that he is also from the future to bring Grovyle to justice. The whole guild falls for Dusknoir's lie and goes after Grovyle, trying to prevent him from stealing any more Time Gears.

At one point, the player and partner approach Dusknoir with questions about the player's Dimensional Scream ability, and ask if he knows anything about where the player came from. They mention the player's name, with the player noticing that despite claiming to know nothing about the player's memory loss, Dusknoir might have had a small smile after hearing the name. After Grovyle is caught and sent back to the future, Dusknoir calls the duo up to him just before he leaves, and says hastily that it is too soon for good-byes, grabbing them both and taking them to the future before the rest of the crowd even realizes what has just happened. However, after narrowly escaping Dusknoir's lair right after they arrive in the future, they venture through many dungeons and, in the end, manage to escape from the future for good with Grovyle as their new ally. Knowing that Grovyle and the player will have to go to the Hidden Land, Dusknoir has himself and his minions transported there to await them. After a rough fight, Dusknoir prepares to finish the party by launching a massive at them, but Grovyle and the main characters manage to deflect it back into the "mouth" on his stomach, severely injuring him and sending his Sableye running back to the future in disbelief that Dusknoir had lost. After they defeat him, he rises and unleashes an attack on the player with the intent of finishing things, but Grovyle steps in. Grovyle then restrains Dusknoir and takes him back to the future with him to prevent him from stopping the player and partner from changing the future. Dusknoir, Grovyle, Primal Dialga, the Sableye, and the player are all erased from time when the player and their partner stop Temporal Tower's collapse, but Dialga revives the player as a reward for their sacrifice.

In, Dusknoir, Grovyle, Primal Dialga and the Sableye appear to survive, but are once again trapped in the dark future. Primal Dialga orders for its army to execute Dusknoir for his failure in the past, but Dusknoir gets away with the help of Grovyle. The two of them, despite being enemies up to this point, team up together at the end of Barren Valley to find Primal Dialga.

As they travel through the now-collapsed Temporal Tower and Dark Ice Mountain, Grovyle and Dusknoir begin to develop a sort of kinship with each other. Dusknoir eventually asks Grovyle why he is willing to sacrifice his life to change the past (hence eliminating the dark future from existence), and Grovyle responds that it is better to live a short life with glory and accomplishment than a long, empty life. He also notes that if he were to do something big (like stopping the planet's paralysis), even if he were to disappear, he would be remembered – and he wouldn't truly disappear. These ideas and concepts strike a chord with Dusknoir, although he does not show any sign of it.

At the end of Icicle Forest, they see Celebi held hostage by the same that attacked Grovyle before. Grovyle attempts to rescue her, whereupon he is captured in an electric field. With his trap sprung, Dusknoir reveals that the supposed execution order was an elaborate ruse; he intends to melt Grovyle's spirit away, possess his empty body, travel to the past again, and ruin things there. However, Grovyle, speaking of his newly formed trust in Dusknoir, believes that not everything was indeed faked – that Dusknoir did identify with Grovyle at some point during the journey. Grovyle is correct – Dusknoir begins to question whether self-preservation in a bleak future is a good idea, violently writhing from this internal struggle. Just before the icicles' electricity wholly melts away Grovyle's spirit, Dusknoir saves him by knocking him out of range, much to everyone's surprise.

At this point, Primal Dialga appears and viciously attacks Dusknoir for his betrayal. The Sableye work up their courage to save Dusknoir and try to stop Dialga, but are effortlessly blasted away. This violent display terrifies Spiritomb, causing it to release Celebi and flee for its life. Now free, Celebi tries to attack Dialga as well, but stops when she sees something unusual: an aurora appears in the sky, and winds start to blow. The effects of Dialga's defeat in the past (the final battle in the main storyline) begin to take effect; time is slowly starting to flow again, and as a result, Primal Dialga goes completely berserk, senselessly charging toward Vast Ice Mountain. Dusknoir, now sincerely sharing Grovyle's goal, teams up with him and Celebi in an effort to find and take down Primal Dialga for good. After cornering Primal Dialga at the Passage of Time, they defeat him, and the effects of the past finally take effect in full force; the Pokémon of the future start to vanish as the flow of time is fully restored. After Primal Dialga vanishes, Dusknoir asks Grovyle one final question: whether this sacrifice is worth his life. With Grovyle's assurance that it is, he finally feels content and vanishes with no regrets; Grovyle and Celebi follow soon after. Soon, everything in the future is erased from time.

However, the Pokémon of the future eventually find themselves in a newly restored future, appearing at the Passage of Time, utterly surprised they have not vanished. Dialga, now restored to his normal state, remarks that their resurrection is due to the actions of a "" than itself, and promises that he will take care of this new future as he sees right. With joy and hope restored to the future world, each of them is free to live their life as they truly wish.

Dusknoir later appears as a recruitable character in Super Mystery Dungeon, and is linked to Grovyle, Sableye and Dialga. His connection request tricks the player into a Monster House ambush; upon his defeat, Dusknoir admits his intent was to test the player, and freely joins them afterward.

In the anime
Dusknoir appeared in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness, where he was trying to stop Grovyle and Team Poképals from taking the Relic Fragment and going to Temporal Tower on Primal Dialga's orders. He ambushed them at the top of the tower along with several, and attempted to escape via portal. However, his army of Sableye were no match for Team Poképals, and Dusknoir was ultimately defeated by a combination of Grovyle's, Chimchar's , and Piplup's.

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Exploration Team manga
Dusknoir appears as a major character in this manga, serving the same role he does in the games.

Dusknoir first appears after Honō and defeat some thieves that stole a treasure from them. He asks if the two are an Exploration Team, to which Honō confirms.

Later, Dusknoir appears with an injured and. He reveals that the cause of their injuries was the Time Gear thief, Grovyle. After Honō has a vision of another Pokémon,, being attacked by Grovyle, Dusknoir confirms it as the Dimensional Scream ability. Falsely fearing Azelf's safety, Dusknoir takes Honō and Totodile to the Crystal Crossing to protect it from the thief, Grovyle.

After Grovyle nearly defeats Honō and Totodile, Dusknoir arrives to save them. Seeing Dusknoir distracts Grovyle long enough for Honō and Dusknoir long enough to defeat and capture him. Afterward, they take Grovyle back to the Guild, where Dusknoir reveals that Grovyle is actually a thief from the future. Dusknoir explains that he is from the future as well, and went back in time to take Grovyle back to his time to be executed. After sending Grovyle into the future, Dusknoir reveals his true nature by suddenly grabbing Honō and Totodile and throwing them forward in time.

Later, Dusknoir and his Sableye minions prepare to execute Grovyle, Honō, and Totodile. However, Honō and Grovyle use their quick thinking to escape unharmed. Later, Dusknoir, the Sableye, and their leader, Primal Dialga intercepts Grovyle's group at the Passage of Time to prevent them from going back into the past and change history with the help of Celebi. As they battle their opponents, Dusknoir reveals that Honō is actually the human partner of Grovyle's that went missing some time ago. This confuses Grovyle, who remembers Honō as a human instead of a Pokémon.

When Honō tries to escape using Celebi's power, Dusknoir has Primal Dialga stop them with its time controlling abilities. Dusknoir tries attacking them once more, but Celebi sacrifices herself by blocking the attack and sends the heroes back in time to change the past.

Dusknoir appears one last time at the Hidden Land, to stop Honō and Totodile from fixing the Temporal Tower and fixing the future. Despite their best efforts, Dusknoir easily shrugs off their attacks and nearly defeats them. Before he can finish Honō and Totodile off, Grovyle returns with the Time Gears and saves them. Together, the three manages to counter Dusknoir's strongest attack, defeating the villain in the process.

Defeated, Dusknoir reveals that if they stop the dark future from happening, all of the Pokémon in the future will disappear, Grovyle and Honō included. Grovyle reveals that he, Honō, and Celebi all knew this was going to happen but decided to change the past anyway. Soon after, Grovyle sacrifices himself by pushing Dusknoir back to the future along with himself.

In the Pocket Monsters DP manga
Dusknoir appears in Big Strategy for the Treasure Gate!! of.

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