Seeing that the timing was about right, Terrance softly spoke, “Altaria, Mega Evolution—”
As soon as the words fell, powerful fluctuations radiated from both the Key Stone and the Mega Stone!!
These fluctuations swiftly transformed into a beam of light, linking the hearts and minds of Terrance and Altaria together.
The brilliance emanating from the Key Stone in the Mega Ring and the Mega Stone instantly enveloped Altaria. In that moment, Altaria’s form began to change as it Mega Evolved into Mega Altaria!!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~~~~~~
Fierce air currents surged around Altaria, pressing down heavily on the area centered around it. As the light of evolution shattered and dispersed, the Mega Altaria finally appeared before the three of them.
Its ribbon-like tail feathers and cotton-like fur fluttered in the wind as Mega Altaria floated in the sky like a noble monarch.
“Use Disarming Voice!”
With the Mega Evolution complete, Terrance quickly gave the command, not daring to waste even a moment.
A clear and melodious cry rang out, and gentle pink sound waves swept forth, transforming into countless sparkling specks in the air, which were rapidly absorbed by the Mega Ring in Terrance’s hand!!
Countless pink light dots floated in the air, resembling shooting stars in the night. Terrance extended his wrist, revealing the indentation on the back of the Mega Ring, his heart filled with nervousness.
Even though they had already tested it a few times, now that it was the critical moment, there was still a bit of unease.
This was precisely the function of the high-tech Mega Ring. Once the Key Stone was activated, the indentation on the back of the Mega Ring could harness the power of the Key Stone, using it as a medium to absorb free-floating Fairy energy from the surroundings!
There was no natural Fairy energy in this place, but Mega Altaria was able to release it, and it greedily absorbed the energy. Before long, the Mega Ring reached its saturation point.
“It’s done!”
Seeing the back of Mega Ring glowing brilliantly and illuminating the surroundings with a warm light, the three of them felt a surge of joy in their hearts.
It was a success.
Although only a small amount of Fairy energy had been absorbed, with the Mega Ring’s conversion, the emitted light illuminated the surroundings, forcefully suppressing the ominous nightmare waves. The three of them immediately felt much lighter and at ease.
“As expected, it works.”
Albus felt a sense of relief—at least the first step was a success.
The Mega Ring indeed had a suppressive effect on the nightmare waves.
“We don’t know how long the Fairy energy collected by the Mega Ring will last. We need to act quickly,” Terrance said.
“Right,” Albus and Fujiki both nodded. Fujiki then called out Ninetales, standing guard outside the cave alongside Terrance’s Mismagius.
According to the plan, Albus and Terrance would enter the cave, while Fujiki remained outside to provide support.
The cave’s interior was limited in space, and if all three of them went in, their movements would be restricted.
With just Terrance and Albus, along with Lucario and Mega Altaria, they were already at the limit.
As they quickly stepped into the cave, a strange gust of wind howled past, chilling them to the bone. The crevices in the stone walls were densely packed with light-blocking moss. Just standing inside the cave caused Terrance’s back to unconsciously turn cold—he wanted nothing more than to leave immediately.
Mega Altaria hovered above the side of Terrance, while Lucario followed close to Albus. The two of them picked up their pace.
“Good, thanks to the Mega Ring, we haven’t been hit by any illusion attacks.”
Albus spoke. The first time he had entered the cave, he had been affected by Darkrai’s nightmare waves, dragged into an illusion, and had nearly lost his way.
Now, with the Mega Ring’s effect, approaching Darkrai had become several times easier!
“Heh, if an unsuspecting person wandered in here, they probably wouldn’t even know how they died.”
Hearing Albus’s words, Terrance focused his mind. Just as he was lifting his foot for the next step, he suddenly stopped, his gaze filled with shock as he stared at the unmoving, dark Pokémon standing in the distance.
Albus also halted, his pupils contracting—he hadn’t expected Darkrai to appear before them so soon.
Darkrai, known in folklore for its unique abilities, had earned the terrifying title of the “Nightmare God.” Furthermore, its classification in the Pokédex fell under the chilling “Darkness” category.
“Terrance, from this moment on, we need to focus one hundred and twenty percent,” Albus said slowly.
“I know.”
Even Albus and Lucario had suffered a crushing defeat. Now, even with the Mega Ring suppressing the nightmare waves, Terrance couldn’t afford to be careless.
Darkrai itself… was also incredibly powerful.
Staring at the black, shadow-like Pokémon ahead, Terrance felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave…. He had never seen a Pokémon that looked so tyrannical… The mist-like, constantly swirling white mass resembling hair covered most of Darkrai’s face, flickering with strange pulses from time to time, leaving only its bright, dark blue eyes exposed.
Additionally, around its neck was a jagged, red collar-like object, resembling a scarf stained with blood. Hanging from both shoulders were long, tattered black strips, looking like black lightning striking down.
Its black, clawed hands, each with three sharp fingers… were now shrouded in wisps of black mist, exuding an eerie aura. Darkrai floated in the air, its entire body resembling an hourglass, yet Terrance noticed something unusual about it.
“Around its waist… there’s a band-like device.”
Terrance’s eyes lit up. The device was pitch black, like a black hole that seemed to swallow everything in its path. Just one glance at it made it difficult to look away.
“Is that… the dream weapon created by Team Nightmare?”
“Is that also the reason why Darkrai has lost its consciousness?!”
“Terrance, find an opportunity to destroy that device,” Albus quickly instructed.
Because of that device, Darkrai was unable to remain conscious—it couldn’t even control its own instincts. If not for the last remnants of its rationality, it would have already gone on a full rampage.
That remaining trace of sanity could only hold on when Darkrai was in a state of calm. Any slight external disturbance could cause it to completely go berserk.
Last time, Albus had attempted to destroy the device on Darkrai’s waist by himself… Unfortunately, he had failed.
Not only that, but he had paid a great price just to placate Darkrai and barely escape with his life.
Terrance had previously learned from his conversations with Albus and the others that the device on Darkrai’s waist was made of a special material, resistant to ordinary energy attacks.
When Darkrai had tried to free itself from Team Nightmare’s control, it attempted to destroy the device on its own, but failed. Worse yet, it suffered a backlash from the dream weapon, leaving it in its current state.
Lucario had also attempted to break it, but was unable to inflict any significant damage. Meanwhile, with Darkrai constantly on the verge of going berserk, Albus had no chance to give Lucario multiple opportunities to attack the device…
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