Aaron had no intention of letting that shameless old bastard escape.
An enemy this dangerous had to be finished off completely. If someone like that survived and came back for another ambush later, he'd be in serious trouble.
Darkrai wasn't his Pokémon.
He had already used one Nightmare Stone, and only two remained.
From now on, he would have to use them carefully.
"Darkrai… take him down!"
Aaron called out immediately.
But before he even finished speaking, Darkrai had already moved.
A surge of pitch-black energy burst from Darkrai and shot toward the fleeing Dr. Dov.
The speed was incredible.
Dr. Dov had barely begun to feel relieved when he suddenly felt something coil around his body.
A mass of dark energy had wrapped around him.
In the next instant, he was violently dragged backward.
No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.
BOOM!
Dr. Dov was yanked back and slammed into the ground, sending shattered rocks flying everywhere.
"Cough—!"
Already suffering from internal injuries, he spat out another mouthful of blood.
He had never imagined that a Master-level evolved being like him could be reduced to this stat.
In front of Darkrai, he had no chance of resisting at all.
A dangerous glint flickered in Dr. Dov's hollow black eyes.
"You forced this…"
"If I'm going down, I'm taking some of you with me!"
His face twisted with rage as he roared.
By now he understood—
There was no escaping Darkrai.
The gap in power was simply too great.
Despair and fury churned inside him.
A fierce resolve flashed in his eyes.
Suddenly, the red energy within his body erupted violently, surging upward toward the sky.
"AAAAAH—!"
His entire body blazed with red light as he poured all his power into the sky.
He looked like a cornered beast, making one last desperate gamble.
A deep tremor spread through the sky.
The red energy overhead reached a critical point—
And exploded.
BOOM!
A deafening blast tore through the sky.
Countless fiery streaks appeared overhead, filling the sky like a storm of falling meteors.
They began raining down toward the earth in overwhelming numbers.
It looked like the end of the world.
The move—
Draconic Meteor.
...
When everyone saw the blazing meteors filling the sky, their legs nearly gave out beneath them.
Fear spread across their faces.
"W-we're really going to die?!"
"I don't want to die! My mom's still waiting for me to come home!"
"You rookies, stop crying!" someone shouted. "Even if we die, we face it with dignity! Get a grip!"
"But Captain… I really don't want to die…"
"If there's another life, I'll still fight! Come on! I'll die standing if I have to!"
"Guys… if there's a next life, let's still stick together!"
"Don't give up yet! We still have Darkrai! The Nightmare Pokémon will save us!"
...
Faced with the apocalyptic rain of meteors, everyone could only pray.
There was nothing else they could do.
All their hopes rested on the dark figure hovering in the sky.
Just like before—
When Darkrai appeared and destroyed Dr. Dov's massive attack.
In their desperate eyes, a faint spark of hope still remained as they looked toward Darkrai.
Brutus and Lilith also stared grimly at the fiery storm overhead.
An attack of that scale covered the entire area.
No one could escape it.
"That bastard… he's ruthless," Brutus muttered.
His face was pale.
"Lilith… we really walked straight into a disaster this time."
But Lilith shook her head.
"No… it's not over yet."
Her gaze moved between the mysterious boy and Darkrai in the sky.
A strange glint flickered in her eyes.
"Darkrai is still here."
Brutus hesitated.
"But even Darkrai… can it really stop an attack this big?"
Lilith gave a faint smile despite her pale face.
"Call it a woman's intuition."
...
Aaron's expression was grim as he looked up at the sky, which now resembled a meteor shower plunging toward the earth.
He was furious.
That old bastard never fought fair.
"Darkrai… I'm counting on you!"
Aaron said firmly.
Darkrai said nothing.
It simply looked up at the sky.
Its cyan-blue eye remained calm and emotionless.
Then—
A brilliant flash suddenly burst from its eye.
An immense surge of energy erupted from its body.
Darkrai slowly raised both hands.
"Dark…"
It let out a low, resonant cry.
A powerful wave of dark energy surged upward from its hands.
The black energy swept across the sky like a blade, cutting through the descending meteors.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wherever the dark energy passed, the burning meteors shattered instantly.
Explosions thundered across the sky as the fiery streaks burst apart one after another.
Fragments of flame scattered everywhere.
In moments—
The entire Draconic Meteor attack was destroyed.
The sky filled with drifting sparks.
They floated slowly downward like glowing embers.
It looked like a magnificent display of fireworks.
Beautiful.
Incredibly beautiful.
Everyone on the ground stared upward in stunned silence.
The entire land had fallen quiet.
They watched the glowing sparks drift through the sky, hardly daring to breathe.
For a moment, it all felt unreal.
Like a dream.
A breathtaking sight.