Time slowly passed by….
After walking for a long time, Albus suddenly stopped again.
Fujiki followed suit and also came to a halt.
The two of them turned back to look at Terrance, who had a strange expression on his face, and asked, “Didn’t you feel it?”
Terrance’s expression returned to normal, and he asked, “Feel what?”
He had just been meditating—so why had they suddenly stopped again?
“Try sensing it more carefully,” Albus said with an evil smile.
Suddenly, as Terrance exited his meditative state, a tingling sensation rushed through his head, as if something had invaded his mind.
By the time he realized what was happening, he had already experienced the impact of the nightmare wave.
Ahead of them, waves of intense malice swept forward like gusts of wind, passing through the mental layers of living beings, making Terrance feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Be careful—this is only the beginning. As we move forward, these nightmare waves will only grow stronger.”
“However, since you can endure the strain of Mega Evolution, your willpower shouldn’t be weak. As we keep going, you should be able to adapt.”
Hearing this, the corner of Terrance’s mouth twitched. Albus and Fujiki had previously mentioned the peculiarities surrounding Darkrai, and the ever-present nightmare waves were one of them.
Walking all the way was really going to be a mental torment. If other Trainers were to come here, most wouldn’t be able to withstand this kind of assault on their will—especially given that the nightmare waves would only become more intense along the way…
Albus and Fujiki had lived on Nightmare Island for several years and had long since adapted to the nightmare waves. Their willpower had been tempered to an extraordinary level. As for Terrance, his innate mental strength wasn’t weak, allowing him to barely resist the corrosive effect of the nightmare waves.
However, Terrance noticed that while he was meditating, the effect of the nightmare waves on him was minimal.
“This place is far better than Crown Academy’s Haunted House in terms of willpower training… It could be incredibly useful.”
Terrance was slightly startled. If someone could reach Darkrai’s side purely by relying on their own willpower, then without a doubt, they would have to be exceptionally strong-willed.
“These two don’t seem affected at all… But if I were to stop the meditation, I would feel a little uncomfortable.”
The three continued walking, and Terrance was inwardly astonished. He had always considered his willpower to be outstanding. After undergoing several trials in Crown Academy’s Haunted House and undergoing rigorous physical training, there were almost no Trainers of his age with better physique than him.
However, looking at Albus and Fujiki, Terrance couldn’t help but feel inferior.
“We’re getting close to the cave where Darkrai is…”
“Terrance, stay behind the two of us.”
Unknowingly, the three of them had already covered a great distance.
Terrance nodded, allowing Albus and Fujiki to take the lead while he followed behind them.
As the mist cleared, a cave came into Terrance’s view. The entrance wasn’t very tall, and large rocks flanked both sides. Upon seeing this cave, Albus made a gesture for them to stop, his gaze turning solemn as he looked inside.
“We’re here.”
Albus took a deep breath, recalling the moment he fought alongside Darkrai to drive out Team Nightmare. He clenched his fists tightly.
“Darkrai, I’m here to save you.”
With that, he focused his Aura, attempting to observe Darkrai’s situation within the cave.
However, in the next instant, an icy nightmare wave swept out with overwhelming force. Even with Aura power protecting him, Albus couldn’t stop the nightmare-like illusions from invading his mind. Countless phantoms pierced into his consciousness like sharp needles, causing his head to throb with unbearable pain, making it impossible for him to condense his Aura again.
His attempt to probe was forcefully cut off by the sheer intensity of the nightmare wave!
“No good—my Aura still can’t get in touch with Darkrai.”
“Let’s proceed according to plan.” Terrance had not exited his meditative state, but the moment he approached the cave, the terrifying pressure weighed down on him so heavily that cold sweat trickled down his face.
Burning, drowning, electrocution, poison… Countless nightmarish illusions surfaced before Terrance’s eyes, causing him to take a slight step back in shock as he stared inside the cave.
He knew that Darkrai possessed the ability to trap others in endless nightmares, but that ability… it had significant limitations.
Against a conscious person, Darkrai’s ability was already considerably weakened.
And when facing someone with strong willpower, if that person was also awake, Darkrai should have been completely powerless.
But the Darkrai inside this cave made Terrance’s expression turn serious. “Is this the amplification effect of Team Nightmare’s so-called ‘dream weapon’?”
How terrifying… Even while standing outside the cave, Terrance could barely withstand the oppressive force emanating from within.
“By maintaining the meditative state, I only felt discomfort upon my first contact with it, but now I’m fine. However, I can imagine that if I step into the cave, there’s a high chance… my brain will be overwhelmed by the nightmare waves, turning me into an idiot—or worse, putting me to sleep from which I may never wake up.”
A shiver ran down Terrance’s spine, and he swore to himself that he absolutely could not act recklessly.
“As long as we don’t enter the cave, there’s no immediate danger,” Albus said softly.
“Are you some kind of monster?” Terrance muttered in exasperation. He knew full well that Albus and Lucario had entered the cave alone before, fought Darkrai, and still managed to make it out in one piece.
Albus gave a wry smile. That had only been a desperate move—using Aura power to resist the nightmare waves had drained him considerably.
Even Lucario had been so heavily suppressed by the nightmare waves that it couldn’t unleash its full strength.
“Enough with the discouraging talk. We should be glad that Darkrai is only passively emitting nightmare waves as part of its instincts—there’s no ‘Hypnosis’ effect mixed in. If Hypnosis were involved, our success rate would drop by dozens of percent…” Albus said.
“Hmph, I have only five minutes. If I hold on even one second longer, I’ll be in danger. If we want to subdue Darkrai… we have to act fast,” Terrance said.
His limit for maintaining Mega Evolution was six minutes. But under these conditions, Terrance estimated that this time might be even shorter.
So five minutes—that was the absolute maximum he could endure. If he exceeded that, for his own safety, he would have to forcefully terminate Mega Evolution.
“Of course. Safety first,” Albus said.
“Alright, then. Let’s begin now…”
Terrance, Albus, and Fujiki exchanged glances and spread out. Terrance took a deep breath and pulled out two Poké Balls.
“Mismagius, protect me.”
“Altaria, prepare for Mega Evolution!”
With a flash of light from the two Poké Balls, Mismagius and Altaria assumed their roles—one hiding in the void, while the other took to the skies, waiting for Mega Evolution.
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