Chapter 338

Darkrai's blue eyes held not the slightest trace of emotion.

Just.

When Alice glanced around left and right,

Darkrai chose to retreat back into the shadows.

Yet, at the moment it sank into the shadows,

a hint of nostalgia flickered within those calm, blue pupils.

You really are just like her!

…

On screen—

Darkrai's sudden appearance immediately put Ash and the others on high alert.

As its form gradually emerged fully from the darkness,

Ash and Pikachu instantly shifted into battle stance.

Just.

Before Ash could even issue a command to Pikachu,

Albert stepped forward first, placing himself in front of everyone.

"Go, Lickitung! Use Hyper Beam!"

The Pokémon bearing an uncanny resemblance to Albert took two steps forward.

Then, orange light began gathering in its mouth.

Hyper Beam shot straight toward Darkrai in front of them!

However!

Darkrai vanished into the shadows the very next second.

It then darted and twisted about,

sweeping past everyone's feet before reappearing once more before the group.

How terrifyingly agile it was.

Several times stronger than the three Regis encountered in "The Rise of Darkrai"!

And after Darkrai reappeared,

it gathered a black energy sphere between its hands.

Before Ash and the others could react,

Darkrai hurled the energy wave right in front of them.

Originally, this attack targeted Albert.

But Albert dodged aside at the last moment, inadvertently exposing Ash behind him.

The black hole struck Ash directly.

Even someone as strong as Ash was instantly engulfed entirely by the black hole upon contact.

So fast,

not even those standing beside Ash had time to react.

"Ash! Are you okay?!" Dawn cried out anxiously.

However,

Ash, hit by the black hole, gave no reply to Dawn.

Because in Ash's field of vision,

he had now plunged into a pitch-black abyss.

【Misty: Will that guy Ash be alright?!】

【Sabrina: Of course, scum like that should just be killed outright. To instinctively make someone else take the hit for him—that's just despicable.】

【Lance: To be fair! You can't blame Albert—he'd dodge any attack instinctively; he probably didn't realize Ash was right behind him.】

【Sabrina: You're actually defending that kind of person? Looks like your high-altitude ride earlier wasn't enough punishment!】

【Lance: No way! Scum like that deserves to die!】

【Da Ye: I don't get it—was Lance threatened by their Gym Leader? Is this really the best the strongest Kanto Elite Four can do? I say retire already!】

【Hibiki: Fine, fine—you've got guts, kid!】

【Da Ye: Just kidding—I'm super brave!】

【Misty: Ash! Please don't get hurt!】

【Brock: Don't worry, Ash has great fortune and resilience—this attack's nothing! Besides, this is Ash's special highlight reel—he won't get hurt!】

【Gary: Don't worry, idiots like him always have ridiculous luck—this attack won't do anything to him!】

【Ash: Thanks so much!】

…

On screen—

Ash, falling into darkness, slammed hard onto the ground.

But when he climbed back up,

he discovered all his companions who had been beside him were now gone.

The park was still the same park!

Yet everything felt deeply eerie!

"Pikachu, where did you go?!"

"Xiaoguang, Xiaogang, where are you!"

His first thought was of his companions.

He shouted loudly through the park, hoping they would answer him.

However.

What answered him was only silence.

"Hey, stop hiding—come out already!"

Seeing no one responded,

Ash had no choice but to search for them himself.

But.

As he stepped forward, he failed to notice his shadow behind him gradually twisting.

By the time he realized it,

his shadow had already spread across the entire road.

And when Ash turned around,

the shadow had coalesced into a massive figure.

That figure was none other than the nightmare deity, Darkrai!

From the shadow on the ground, Darkrai's signature blue eyes suddenly gleamed.

This sudden change startled Ash right down to his core.

Ash, who had never feared any Pokémon, was most terrified of ghosts!

(Ghost-type Pokémon don't count.)

Darkrai's shadow surged up from the earth.

Finally, its entire body enveloped Ash!

In the next moment, Ash felt as if he had plunged into an unknown realm.

Within that unknown realm, a silhouette glowing with magenta energy flashed past before his eyes.

The figure had no physical form—only a pair of crimson eyes stood out vividly.

"palu~"

Its eerie cry, paired with its monstrously twisted posture,

made every hair on Ash's body stand on end!

What... what on earth is this thing?!

In an instant, the figure, its red eyes flashing, passed straight through Ash's body.

Instinctively, Ash raised his hands to cover his eyes.