บท 1074: Escape from the Mirage Tower
Seeing the rising tension between the two Pokémon, Yuga quickly spoke to Darkrai, "We have no intention of causing conflict with you. We just want to know how to leave the Mirage Tower."
"Darkrai!"
True to what Cresselia had said, Darkrai was indeed incredibly proud and unruly. It felt provoked by Absol and declared that if Absol could defeat it, only then would it allow Yuga and the others to leave.
The pride of Dark-type Pokémon was fully on display in both Darkrai and Absol. Darkrai believed its dignity could not be challenged, while Absol's unyielding nature refused to bow to any other Pokémon, even if the opponent was a much stronger Legendary Pokémon.
"Brother Yuga, what does Darkrai mean?" Seeing the increasingly tense atmosphere, May couldn't help but ask Yuga.
Yuga, noticing Darkrai's firm stance, truthfully told her, "Darkrai means that only if Absol can defeat it will it let us leave."
Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Ash immediately shouted to Darkrai, "Darkrai, we just want to leave here. Please don't be angry!"
However, Darkrai was unmoved by Ash's words and continued to lock its gaze on Mega Absol.
Darkrai could sense that Absol was not as strong as itself, but whenever it faced Absol, an eerie sense of danger crept into its heart and refused to leave.
Determined to uncover the source of this unease, Darkrai insisted on fighting Absol. Its naturally defiant personality made it impossible for it to simply ignore the threat and let them go without understanding what was going on.
"Darkrai, you should know that Absol isn't your match. We don't want to offend you, so please, show us mercy," Yuga, thinking that Darkrai's refusal stemmed from the arrogance typical of a Legendary Pokémon, continued to patiently persuade it.
However, Darkrai had little patience. Seeing Yuga hesitating and not agreeing to let Absol fight, it immediately unleashed a Dark Pulse at Mega Absol.
Boom!!!
Mega Absol reacted quickly, leaping out of the way to avoid the Dark Pulse, which left deep cracks in the once-luxurious floor of the palace.
Darkrai had initiated the attack, and Mega Absol was certainly not one to sit idly by. It feared no challenge.
As Mega Absol leapt into the air, a bright white light flashed across its claws, and it slashed directly at the floating Darkrai with Slash.
Darkrai's reaction speed was equally impressive. As Mega Absol's Slash came close, Darkrai deftly dodged to the side, avoiding the attack with ease. In return, Darkrai countered with Shadow Claw, striking Mega Absol down from the air.
"Absol!"
Mega Absol let out a cry of pain as it crashed into the floor, causing cracks to spread across the smooth surface.
"Absol, use Swords Dance!"
Realizing the battle between Mega Absol and Darkrai was inevitable, Yuga had no choice but to command Mega Absol to fight.
Hearing Yuga's command, Mega Absol quickly flipped back onto its feet, surrounded by glowing blue swords as it prepared Swords Dance. Just as the move finished, Darkrai launched another Dark Pulse. Mega Absol narrowly dodged the attack with a swift leap.
"Absol, use Swords Dance again," Yuga continued to give orders. He knew that in terms of sheer strength, Absol stood little chance of winning. Their best option was to grasp any possibility of victory.
Watching the intense chase between Mega Absol and Darkrai not far away, May, looking tense, turned to Luvia and asked, "Sister Luvia, do you think Brother Yuga will be alright?"
Before Luvia could respond, Max jumped in, saying, "There's definitely no problem! Brother Yuga has defeated Rayquaza before, so Darkrai should be no issue."
At that moment, it was unclear whether Max truly believed in Yuga or was just trying to comfort himself. His constant foot-tapping gave away how nervous he really was.
Ash, on the other hand, had complete faith in Yuga. Although he didn't quite understand what Max meant by "Brother Yuga defeated Rayquaza," it didn't stop him from thinking that Yuga was incredibly strong.
"Yeah, Mr. Shimizu will definitely win! I believe in him!" Ash added confidently.
Luvia, however, remained silent as she listened to the children's conversation. She wasn't as optimistic as Ash or Max.
She had seen the video of Yuga's battle with Rayquaza. In the video, Rayquaza was not defeated solely due to Yuga's strength, but because of help from a mysterious Pokémon (Deoxys), along with a coordinated assault from many of Yuga's Pokémon.
But now, it was a one-on-one battle between Absol and Darkrai.
Darkrai might not be as strong as Rayquaza, but Absol's chances of winning were still less than one percent.
If Yuga and Absol lost, with Darkrai's unpredictable nature, there was a real possibility it would trap them in the Mirage Tower forever.
Meanwhile, Jessie and James, who were hiding behind Luvia and the others, were whispering to each other.
"Hey, James, do you think that Gym Leader Shimizu is really reliable?" Jessie asked worriedly.
James, looking unsure, replied, "I don't know. All I know is that he's really strong."
Jessie, annoyed, smacked him lightly. "That's no help at all! Who's stronger, him or Champion Steven?"
James thought for a moment and said, "They're probably about the same. Maybe he's even stronger than Steven? Hmm… probably."
Hearing this, Jessie instantly perked up. "Really? That strong? Then we don't need to worry!" In Jessie's mind, no one was stronger than Giovanni, except maybe the Champions.
"Hey, don't you think that guy Shimizu is kind of handsome?" Jessie suddenly remarked, staring at Yuga, who was calmly commanding Absol in battle.
James: ...
Meowth: ...
This reaction was just like when she found out Steven was the heir to the Devon Corporation!
Noticing James and Meowth's strange looks, Jessie awkwardly laughed, "Haha... I was just joking... haha... a joke... haha..."
On the battlefield, under Darkrai's relentless attacks, Mega Absol finally completed its third round of Swords Dance, reaching the peak of its power.
At that moment, Darkrai used Mean Look on Mega Absol. However, due to Absol's Mega Evolution, its ability had changed from Pressure to Magic Bounce, making it immune to status moves and reflecting them back.
As a result, Darkrai fell into its own Mean Look, and when it tried to attack Mega Absol again, its move failed.
"Absol, use Stone Edge!" Yuga seized the opportunity and commanded.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Countless stone blades, controlled by Mega Absol, shot towards the stunned Darkrai.
"Darkrai!"
The pain enraged Darkrai, and with a roar, it used Hyper Voice.
Though Hyper Voice is typically a lower-tier move, when used by a legendary Pokémon, it's different. Waves of black sound rippled towards Mega Absol, even knocking Yuga to the ground with its force.
Outside the battle, Luvia and the others couldn't help but cover their ears from the deafening sound.
Mega Absol, thrown to the ground by the soundwaves, quickly scrambled back to its feet. It steadied itself, then launched a relentless barrage of stone blades towards Darkrai, sharper and more frequent than before.
Darkrai's eyes glowed purple as it extended an arm forward, causing all the stone blades to freeze in mid-air before they could reach it.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
With a flick of Darkrai's arm, all the stone blades it had caught with Psychic shot back towards Mega Absol.
"Absol!"
Mega Absol let out a cry as it crashed to the ground once again.
"Absol!" Yuga anxiously ran to Mega Absol's side, calling out to it with worry.
Seeing Mega Absol in such a dire state, Jessie, who had been somewhat relaxed earlier, said, "Hey, hey, this isn't looking good. Are we even going to get out of here? I really don't want to experience another nightmare like before."
Meowth, annoyed, scratched Jessie. "Jessie, stop stirring things up. Now's not the time for this!"
Jessie, clearly nervous, didn't even react to Meowth's "disrespectful" scratch. Normally, she would have given Meowth a beating.
Despite Mega Absol's severe injuries, Darkrai hadn't given up the attack. Its hands came together, ready to launch another Dark Pulse to press its advantage.
At this moment, Yuga was standing right next to Mega Absol. The Dark Pulse was about to hit both of them, and in a panic, Mega Absol jumped forward to shield Yuga.
Boom!
The Dark Pulse struck Mega Absol.
"Absol!" Yuga shouted.
However, at that moment, a surge of dark energy erupted from Mega Absol's body. Suddenly, a black orb floated from its forehead, hovering over it. Absol's once pure white fur began to turn pitch black, inch by inch, transforming it into a dark demon-like figure.
Yuga immediately recognized the black orb as the Seed of Unknown. He wasn't sure when it happened, but the once attribute-less Seed of Unknown had turned black, becoming a pure Dark-type.
"Absol!"
Mega Absol howled towards the sky, then, in a flash, it leaped and pinned Darkrai to the ground.
Mega Absol's two front paws held Darkrai's arms firmly in place. Darkrai struggled to break free, but Mega Absol lowered its head until their foreheads were touching, the Seed of Unknown hovering right between them.
With a sudden "buzzing" sound, Darkrai felt a tremendous suction force from its forehead. Instantly, its strength and energy began to drain away, making it impossible to escape Absol's hold.
At that moment, Darkrai finally understood—the true threat wasn't Mega Absol itself, but the mysterious object within it.
Feeling its energy drain faster and faster, Darkrai started to regret its decision. If it had known, it would have just let them leave.
Though Yuga wasn't entirely sure what was happening, he could tell that Darkrai was being subdued. At that moment, Mismagius, Gengar, and Mimikyu returned and informed Yuga that they had found the exit.
As it turned out, Yuga had secretly sent Gengar, Mismagius, and Mimikyu to search for the exit as soon as they entered. The reason he had fully committed Mega Absol to fighting Darkrai was to distract it.
Since Cresselia had already warned Yuga that Darkrai wouldn't be easy to deal with, he had prepared a backup plan. After failing to negotiate with Darkrai, he wasn't going to sit idly by, knowing that Mega Absol couldn't win in a direct fight.
Originally, Yuga planned to wait until they found the exit, then release the rest of his Pokémon to gang up on Darkrai, using the opportunity to make a break for it. He hadn't expected the Seed of Unknown to come out and lend a hand.
"Absol, let's go!" Yuga shouted to Absol.
Absol quickly jumped off Darkrai and rushed to Yuga's side, crouching down so Yuga could climb onto its back. Darkrai wanted to get up and stop them, but its body was completely drained of strength and couldn't move.
Yuga, riding on Mega Absol, approached Luvia and the others, letting Ash, Brock, and Max climb onto Absol as well. He then released Sawsbuck to carry Luvia and May, and the group took off running.
"Hey, what about us?!"
"Take us with you!" Jessie and James called out simultaneously.
"Gengar, Mismagius, grab them!" Yuga shouted as he drove Mega Absol forward. Gengar and Mismagius quickly picked up Jessie, James, and Meowth, then chased after Yuga and the others. The group was running so fast that they didn't even check on Darkrai lying on the ground.
Following Mimikyu's lead, they ran to the deepest part of the palace and found a nondescript statue.
Mega Absol smashed the statue with one swipe, revealing a blue vortex in front of them.
"This is the exit?" Yuga asked, looking at the Mimikyu in his arms.
"Mimikyu..."
Mimikyu nodded affirmatively.
"Alright, let's go." With that, Yuga urged Mega Absol to dive headfirst into the blue vortex, followed closely by Sawsbuck, Gengar, and Mismagius.
After a moment of dizziness, Yuga, Ash, Brock, Max, and Mega Absol all tumbled into a patch of soft yellow sand. The blue vortex above them continued to spit out Sawsbuck, Luvia, Gengar...
Once everyone and all the Pokémon were out, the vortex slowly disappeared.
Breathing in the scorching hot air, Ash shouted excitedly, "We really made it out, this is great!"
Max, still shaken, said, "Darkrai didn't follow us, right?"
Brock looked around. Besides the yellow sand, there was no sign of the Mirage Tower or the blue vortex, so he shook his head and said, "It doesn't seem like it." (Darkrai: Damn it, I can't even move right now!)
The first thing Yuga did after getting out was check on Absol.
"Absol, are you alright?"
Mega Absol reverted to its normal form and shook its head, indicating it was fine. Not only that, but it felt full of energy, and even its previous injuries had vanished.
At this point, May asked in confusion, "Where are we now? This doesn't seem to be the place we originally entered the Mirage Tower."
The group, who had been celebrating their escape, froze in realization: Yeah, where are we now?
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