Thanks to the joint efforts of Darkrai and the six Pokémon, including Pikachu, only a few houses in Baiyang Town were damaged; the rest of the losses were within an acceptable range.
Therefore, the Baiyang Town Contests were held as scheduled.
On the morning of the second day, Ash followed behind the bouncing girl, silently watching Dawn's smiling face.
However, when she looked back and saw Ash's grinning face, the girl stuck out her tongue at him and then turned her head away, pretending to be angry.
She continued bouncing forward, going back and forth several times.
"Hmph, what a problematic big dummy~" Dawn grumbled about Ash's behavior from yesterday while blushing.
He clearly said words that sounded like a confession, but then suddenly took a sharp turn; it was truly infuriating.
At the thought of this, Dawn became even more flustered and annoyed, sticking her tongue out at Ash even more frequently.
Ash didn't mind; instead, he recalled yesterday with a slight sense of regret.
In yesterday's incredibly ambiguous atmosphere, the little girl had almost fallen for his trap and agreed to an incredibly excessive request.
That was—to agree to three more incredibly excessive requests.
This left him very puzzled; how could Dawn not agree?
Didn't they agree she'd grant any one very excessive request? Wasn't this request excessive?
Since it was excessive, why wouldn't Dawn agree?
However, seeing the girl's angry look, Ash didn't dare to ask!
He could only keep this excessive request for now and bring it up again one day in the future.
As for using this request for a confession, he could only say it was simply unnecessary.
After all, their journey was still long, so there was no need to rush.
Besides, he hoped their relationship would develop naturally rather than by directly using up this excessive request.
"Hey~"
"Pika-pi~"
While he was lost in thought, the calls of Brock and Pikachu came from ahead, signaling the two laggards in the back to hurry up and catch up.
"No problem~"
"Coming!"
The two responded in unison, and their identical reactions caused their gazes to meet involuntarily once again.
In the end, it was Dawn who first couldn't stand such a heated gaze; she dashed forward as if fleeing, with a Super Pallet Town Man quickly chasing after her.
In this Contest, Dawn entered the second round of judging with an excellent performance, but unfortunately met a powerful opponent in the quarter-finals and narrowly lost.
However, the final winner wasn't the contestant who defeated Dawn, but rather Ash and Ambipom, who were participating in a Contest for the second... oh no, it should be the third time.
While Dawn congratulated Ash, she also unexpectedly realized that Ash seemed to be a highly skilled Pokémon Coordinator as well.
Ash didn't take it to heart, however, and instead made his final preparations before leaving.
In the back garden where it all began, Ash stood alone with Dawn, gazing at the distant scenery and casually talking to the shadow beneath his feet.
Inside was the Mythical Pokémon, Darkrai, its entire body pitch black.
It reached out, revealing its upper half with long white hair and blue eyes, to communicate with Ash; the subject was naturally Ash's desire to catch Darkrai.
After all, this Darkrai was a powerhouse that could hold back the two Level 1 Legendaries, Dialga and Palkia; its strength was absolutely beyond question.
Although the success rate wasn't high, he still tried his best.
"I agree!" Darkrai's cold voice came through.
The final outcome was beyond Ash's expectations; he hadn't expected Darkrai to actually agree.
It's just that... Darkrai only agreed to half of it!!!
The reason was that Darkrai had already promised Alice's grandmother—Alicia—that it would protect this town.
So it agreed to be caught by Ash and would fight as Ash's Pokémon when necessary.
But normally, it had to stay in this town as its guardian; it could not travel with Ash.
In other words, to repay the kindness, this fellow chose to give its body to Ash, while its heart remained in this back garden filled with memories of Alicia.
Ash, naturally, didn't mind. As long as he could put Darkrai into his team as a combat force, his chances of winning against Tobias in the future would definitely increase by thirty or forty percent.
"Then... come on in!" Ash held a black-and-gold Luxury Ball and aimed it at Darkrai. "By the way, remember not to use too much force; the Luxury Ball can't handle it!"
Darkrai nodded and proactively touched the switch of the Luxury Ball. It turned into a streak of red light and was sucked inside; the ball then went dark without even a single wobble.
"Pika-pi~ (Congratulations, Ash.)"
"Congratulations, Ash~"
Dawn and Pikachu offered their congratulations one after another, happy that Ash had caught the legendary Darkrai.
"Thanks~" An unmistakable smile appeared on the corner of Ash's mouth.
Not only because he had gained a powerful combatant comparable to the Time-Space Dual Gods, but also because a pleasant notification sound rang in his mind, instantly sending Ash's spirits soaring.
"*** received, 100,000 Gold Coins!!!"
...While Ash was excited about catching Darkrai, a certain blonde Champion lady still on a vacation island was starting to get a headache.
"What!" Beside her, her Garchomp was blushing while holding an electronic device as she spoke to the liaison in a dissatisfied tone. "An incident happened in Baiyang Town, and my vacation is ruined?"
Cynthia, who was swimming in the water wearing a sexy bikini, said in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, Lady Cynthia!" On the other end was a female League liaison, apologizing sincerely.
"Beep beep!!"
"Then what... about... my vaca—!"
Before Cynthia could finish asking about her vacation arrangements, a very familiar hang-up sound came through, giving her no chance to argue.
"Splash, splash, splash~"
This made the Champion lady very unhappy. She slapped the surface of the water heavily with her delicate hands to vent her frustration, losing all interest in swimming.
"Nas~"
Milotic's long tail swatted away a Gastrodon that was trying to sneak up, and then coiled around Cynthia's curvaceous body to comfort her.
"Honestly! It's only been ten or so days!" With the bright and beautiful Milotic's comfort, Cynthia finally recovered and grumbled.
She then tucked back her long golden hair, which was wet and clinging to her body, and climbed onto the shore using the pool ladder.
"Shark~"
Garchomp quickly used its sharp fin to pick up a clean, dry bath towel and handed it to Cynthia.
"Thanks, Garchomp!"
She wrapped the towel around her body, forming a graceful S-curve.
Then she sat on a large lounge chair, holding a cute little Eevee as a pet, using the clingy Gastrodon as a footrest, and enjoying the eerie air conditioning provided by Spiritomb.
She stared at the electronic screen at the culprit who had ruined her vacation.
A boy with a Pikachu, Ash?