"Sycamore, use Force Palm! And Dusty, Body Slam!" I yelled. While the two prepared their attacks and grew ever closer, Darkrai stood still, presumably waiting for them to make the first attack. Even as they were only inches away, Darkrai still did not move, his attention never leaving his assailants. I figured he had something up his sleeve, but it hopefully wouldn't be powerful enough to make this first attack a detriment.
Right as both attacks were about to connect, I saw Darkrai instantly move back out of the way, like he had teleported. However, I wasn't the only one who was anticipating his tricks; Sycamore and Dusty both stopped their moves just in time to not hurt themselves. But as soon as they had readied themselves, Darkrai clapped his hands together and a sudden cloud of dark smoke puffed out from the air behind him. In an instant, he was completely shrouded, the glow of his singular cyan eye being the last thing to disappear.
Before any of us could react or attempt to theorize what he had in store, copies of Darkrai began to fly out from inside the haze, as if he had duplicated himself a bunch of times somehow. The clones shot out in a circle, completely surrounding Dusty and Sycamore. As a look of bewilderment spread out on their faces, every Darkrai began to charge a Dark Pulse.
Expecting the worst, I was genuinely surprised when Dusty, without hesitation, twisted his body and held out his tendrils before beginning to spin in a circle. Even Sycamore knew what he was going to do, as he dropped to the ground right as Dusty began to twirl. In only one to two quick rotations, all of the Darkrai clones were smacked with his tendrils, and each of them disappeared back into their own cloud of smoke on hit. Not a single Darkrai even got the chance to use their attack.
But as the last puff of smoke dissipated and the real Darkrai still wasn't in sight, I knew something was off. Again, before any of us had the chance to react, Darkrai immediately reappeared behind them with another Dark Pulse already prepared; he let it go almost instantly, the dark energy forming into a straight, circular beam.
"Look out!" I cried out to the Pokémon. Luckily, they were just far away enough to have the time to dodge. But as they quickly got out of the way, I realized the beam was now aimed right at me. I wasn't expecting to be in the line of fire, so my nerves got the best of me, and my legs froze in place.
"Move, Luke!" I suddenly heard from my side before feeling Eliza shove me away. I tumbled to the ground as the Dark Pulse flew past me, never losing its trajectory as it flew past the mountain and into the unknown all around us. And as I was falling, I caught a glimpse of Darkrai disappearing into nothing again.
"Damnit, are you okay?" Eliza scurried over to my side and outreached her hand to me. I immediately took it and added,
"Just peachy..." before getting back up on my legs. Darkrai suddenly began to laugh again, this time even more maniacally than ever.
"...Watch yourself, chosen one… Do not forget that you are my target…" Darkrai's voice echoed from all around me. Now recognizing that he'd specifically aimed his attack at me, I felt my heart race even more than before.
"I-I'm not scared of you! I know you can't hurt us here!" He chortled at my response.
"...Very true, but what I can do is keep wasting your time… What if there is no portal when you get back to the bridge?" As he trailed off with more laughter, I felt my blood begin to boil, but I also sincerely hoped that Uxie was doing okay back outside the nightmare.
"Ugh, just show yourself, you coward!" Eliza then shouted.
"...If you insist!" Darkrai added with a smug tone. Suddenly, from behind Sycamore, I saw his shadow begin to move. It caught me off guard at first considering he wasn't moving that much, but as I saw Darkrai's figure begin to emerge from within, I knew what the problem was. Calling out to Sycamore a second too late, Darkrai made some kind of noise to get his attention and caused him to spin around. Then, with a single, quick movement, he jabbed Sycamore right in his gut with one of his off hands. Sycamore immediately fell to the ground in pain as Darkrai disappeared into his shadow once more, leaving no trace. But this was just the start of his attack.
Darkrai then appeared inside Dusty's shadow the moment after he turned to face Sycamore. Darkrai didn't bother to get Dusty's attention this time though, as he punched him in the back with another swift hit. In response, Dusty stumbled forwards, nearly tripping over Sycamore. But with both of their backs still turned, Darkrai made the most of it.
Teleporting from shadow to shadow, Darkrai laid on the blows, almost becoming a blur with how fast he was doing it. I watched in horror as Sycamore and Dusty were continuously thrashed back and forth, almost never having a second to catch their breath.
At one point however, Dusty made it back on his feet for a second and waited for Darkrai to attack. And as Darkrai materialized from the dark, he attempted to grab him. From my angle, it looked like he'd succeeded, but either Darkrai was too fast or Dusty barely missed, because he fell back to the ground just a second after, and the onslaught continued.
"This… This is just unfair!" I heard Eliza shout from beside me. Glancing over for a moment, she looked more angry than worried. "Come fight us with some dignity, Darkrai! Stop hiding in the shadows!" she then yelled up at the sky.
"...You… You wish for a fair fight?" As Darkrai's laughter once again echoed across the plane, he stopped attacking Sycamore and Dusty for the moment. The two of them looked like they were covered from head to toe in bruises, but they took the opportunity to stand up and ready themselves, nonetheless. "...You really think I would ever give you the chance of an honest fight?!"
Suddenly, I felt something grab a hold of my leg. Within an instant, I felt whatever had taken hold of me pull back with an extreme amount of force. I hit the ground hard with a sizable thud; I then caught a glimpse of the same thing happening to Eliza right after. Darkrai snickered once both of us were down.
"...It is my duty to keep you here while the portal to the Pokémon World is shut for good… What would be the point of actually fighting you?" While still on the ground, Eliza picked herself up a little and screamed out,
"Because that's what someone who wasn't afraid of losing would do!" I could tell she struck a nerve because there was a short pause before Darkrai spoke again, and he wasn't happy.
"...Why, you– I, the almighty Darkrai, will not heed such insults in my own domain!" A terribly loud clap of thunder roared through the space and reverberated off the mountain. "I will show you the true definition of fear! You will rot here for all of eternity!" Suddenly, Darkrai appeared in the sky above us; although it was hard to identify his facial expressions, his singular eye looked tense with rage. Swinging one of his arms, two sets of red lightning bolts started crashing down from the sky in a straight line, headed directly for Eliza and I, as well as Dusty and Sycamore.
"Yeah, right," I heard Eliza say under her breath just then. As we stood up as fast as we could, I took a second to finally appreciate Eliza's ability to madden anyone.
Quickly breaking into a dash, the two of us met up in the middle with Dusty and Sycamore before turning towards the right together as a group. As the lightning bolts also met, they too combined into an even larger singular bolt that had much more power than any of the other ones Darkrai had thrown at us before. And no matter where we ran, the bolts just kept following after us; strangely however, they were matching our speed, like Darkrai was waiting for us to slip up. Realizing we were running out of time to act, I looked over to my Pokémon and yelped,
"Dusty! We'll lead the bolts around towards Darkrai, you try to hit him with one of your Sludge Bombs!" He didn't nod back at me, but I caught a glimpse of him looking at me, so I just assumed he'd be ready.
Speeding up a bit and beginning to gradually turn, we started to get into position. Once we were lined up, I looked back up to see what Darkrai was doing. Again, I couldn't really tell if he had a plan up his sleeve or if he was still blinded by rage, but this attack was the best chance we had at hitting him.
Everyone moved to the side and Dusty pushed out in front of our group, already preparing his Sludge Bomb. Now an expert at using it, he quickly opened his mouth and hurled the disgusting purple orb into the sky. Watching with anticipation, the purple goo contrasted greatly against the white mountain behind it as it arced upwards.
Mere inches before it hit Darkrai, I figured that we'd finally have the upper hand since he probably didn't have a chance to teleport away again, especially since this was the closest any of our attacks had gotten to him. But as the Sludge Bomb sailed right through his body and exploded in the snow behind him, I came to realize I was stupid for thinking Darkrai would let his guard down like that.
The clone in the sky puffed into another dark cloud of smoke and disappeared right after, followed by a sudden clap of thunder; glancing over my shoulder, the lightning stopped for a moment. Confused, I was about to slow down and look behind me to see what had happened, when I heard a painful yelp from my left. Whipping around to catch Darkrai slipping back into Dusty's shadow, Dusty had crumbled to the ground and was holding his chest. Immediately, I noticed a shock of red electricity pulse from the spot where Darkrai had struck him.
"Dusty, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked in a panic, crouching down to his level. Dusty continued to tightly clutch his injury, shaking like he'd been out in the cold too long.
"G-Gar… Bo… Garb…" he managed to get out, still wincing.
He said that Darkrai hit him with some kind of paralyzing punch, and doesn't know if he can attack any more, I heard Sycamore say in my head. Suddenly, Darkrai's voice echoed through the air,
"...Now that I have disabled your usage of projectiles, how will you hit me…? You are running out of time, chosen one…" Darkrai teased. Realizing that Dusty would probably be unable to use moves anymore and that Sycamore had no ranged attacks, my heart dropped. Even Eliza looked like she was worried.
Just then, the lightning started up again, closer than ever on our heels. Sycamore quickly helped Dusty to his feet and came over between us before assisting with getting him up to running speed once more.
"...If you keep fleeing, chosen one… You will eventually tire..." Darkrai ended with a laugh. His words echoing in my head, I felt my muscles tense; this fight was extremely one-sided.
"Sycamore! We need to get out of here!" I shouted in desperation.
Luke… I worry there is no exit…
"There's gotta be another way out of this! Come on, anybody have any ideas?!" Exchanging looks with everyone proved the unfortunate reality. My mind grasping at straws, I lost my pacing for a second and fell behind in our group. Coming up next to Sycamore, I suddenly felt a pang of external energy in my left arm. The jolt felt strangely familiar somehow and seemed to be connected to…
Luke, the Mega Stones! Sycamore then shouted in my head. Glancing down at his arm, the circular rock in the middle of his bracer was glowing with a red light and the watery texture inside seemed to be pulsating. Pulling my sleeve back, I found that my Mega Bracelet was doing much of the same thing.
"But… Will it work in a dream? Is that even possible?" Sycamore didn't respond, but instead looked me deep in the eyes before running closer; I felt the energy increase and flow more through my body, making it all tingly. Realizing what he was implying, I knew we didn't have a second choice.
"...That energy… Could it be? The power of Mega Evolution?" I heard Darkrai's voice perforate through the air. Then realizing the lightning had paused again for the moment, we all came to a stop. Instead of questioning how Darkrai could feel the energy too, I skipped ahead in my mind a bit and blurted out,
"Of course we do! Now give up before we really hurt you!" This comment sent Darkrai into a crazed laughing fit, even louder than the other ones.
"...Mega Evolution will never work here! In this nightmare, only I can control what happens! And even if you manage to get it to work, not only will you not be able to control it, but it will still not be enough to stop me…!"
Human! Hello, can you hear me?! Uxie's voice cut through the air, clear as day.
Yes, I'm here! What do you need?
Something is happening to the energy orb! It seems to be pulsating with a new energy coming from within. Do I sense…?
I think our Mega Stones are reacting to each other…
Hmm, I see… But does the risk outweigh the reward…? There was a short pause as she thought about it. Darkrai continued to laugh through the midst of it, much to our annoyance.
Human, listen closely to me. I nodded my head, not realizing at first that she couldn't see it. Mega Evolution is a very powerful ability, and I am still unsure if you are ready to harness it… Nonetheless, we are in a very sticky bind currently. Do what you must to escape but be wary– Darkrai's influence may have some kind of negative effect.
You can count on us, Uxie. We will all try our best! She didn't respond after, most likely getting back to what she needed to. Turning back to Sycamore, I nodded.
"Let's do this, buddy." We smiled confidently at each other. Eliza and Dusty stepped away to the sides, seeing as we were going ahead with it.
"Good luck," I heard Eliza mutter as the two of them got out of the way.
Although I'd never learned from Uxie how to initiate the Mega Evolution, I at least had an idea. I held my left arm out straight and put my right hand over the black Mega Stone bracelet; Sycamore did the same. The stone felt surprisingly warm to the touch, and as soon as I made contact more of the energy from before pulsated through it.
Suddenly, something burst inside my stone, as it felt like there was an explosion of energy from within. I felt it shoot through my body, filling me with an even larger, more numbing tingliness. At its peak, it flowed through my body and into Sycamore's, enough so that I felt his heartbeat and breathing alongside my own.
By now, Darkrai had stopped his maniacal laughter and was keenly watching us.
"...You fools! The power will consume you…!" he called out, but the process had already begun, and there was no turning back.
A bright pink light then began to emanate from the stones. Then, a final energy surge pulsed through, and I felt even more pumping through my veins. I looked up to see the same pink light enveloping Sycamore, until a bright round sphere encircled him. The energy then began to spill out onto the ground, shaking the area around us and causing a draft. I smiled as I heard the energy building up, about to burst.
The pink orb around Sycamore then faded to a pure white orb and began to break. Meanwhile, Darkrai silently observed over us, floating stationary in his spot in front of the moon. As the orb shattered and dissipated into thin air, a bursting sound ruptured along with it. The flowing energy dispersed as Sycamore roared out,
"LUCAR!" I immediately noticed Sycamore's new features as he stood triumphantly in front of me; his form stayed mostly the same, yet there were a couple differences. The black 'face mask' around his eyes extended out and his black aura lobes behind his ears were crimson red at the tips. His cream fur extended downwards past his scarf and gave way to a strong pair of long, red tipped arms. The new black markings continued on his arms and legs, before ending at his red tipped feet.
"...No… This cannot be!" I heard Darkrai suddenly say, the confidence in his voice now missing. From my side, I saw Dusty and Eliza looking on intently, obviously eager to see the outcome of this. As I was about to respond with something witty, Sycamore spoke up instead; not with his mind however, but with his actual voice. In a scruffy and deep tone, he said,
"The auras… I can see them again!" Catching everyone off guard, a short silence followed.
"Did he just talk? Like, with actual words?" Eliza asked Dusty; I was just as stunned. Sycamore then didn't hesitate to get back into a battling pose before yelling out,
"This ends now, Darkrai! Surrender or face my wrath!"
"...Hmph. Your threats are still futile, Lucario. After all, you still lack the ability to harness the power of Mega Evolution…"
"Enough! If you will not show yourself and fight us face-to-face… Then I will bring it to you!" Darkrai snickered in response.
"...And how will you do that…? It is only a matter of time before you succumb to the extreme power…" Instead of responding, Sycamore closed his eyes and held his right paw up to his head. Unsure what he was doing, I saw him turn his straight head up, as if he was staring above the moon. Then he held out his paws in front of him, leaving plenty of room in the middle.
Suddenly, a blue energy arced to life between his paws, swirling together and eventually forming a ball. The orb began to warble and began to make a sort of static-y sound as it continued to grow. And although I could tell that Sycamore was putting all of his being into this attack, it almost looked like he was struggling to produce it properly.
While it formed, Darkrai again stayed quiet, waiting to see what Sycamore could do. Once the sphere reached a size around half his height, Sycamore opened his eyes and yelped out,
"I can see you, Darkrai– Aura Sphere!" Moving his arms back, he pushed forwards, letting the ball of energy fly out into the air. It soared higher and higher, flying right past Darkrai. Confused, I wondered at first what he was aiming for. But as I heard Darkrai cry out,
'...No!" I knew there was something I had missed. Darkrai then began to charge some attack of his own and seemed to be targeting the hurdling ball of energy flying upwards into the sky. Within an instant, he let loose a Dark Pulse that looked like it was headed straight on for the Aura Sphere. But as the two connected, the Dark Pulse seemed to be absorbed, and the blue ball of energy never changed its path for a moment.
"Underestimating our power will be your downfall!" Sycamore called out. Darkrai looked back at us over his shoulder before disappearing into nothingness once more.
Suddenly, the Aura Sphere hit something high up and exploded. As it hit, I watched an outline of a dark silhouette light up in the same bright blue as the Aura Sphere, but only for a moment. Immediately, I could tell who's figure it was.
The real Darkrai began to plummet from above, but before I could witness him land, another splitting headache rattled through my head. Clutching my head in my hands, I fell to my knees as the pain rendered me useless. Then, like before, Darkrai let out a loud, painful yelp. This time however, the pain lingered for much longer.
Pushing myself to recover, I opened my eyes for just a second to see everyone down on the ground, including Darkrai and Sycamore, all writhing from the sudden headache.
Lukas! Hello, Lukas? Uxie here!
…Yes?
Are you okay in there?! Lucario actually Mega Evolved inside the orb here at the bridge, and the energy is fluctuating like crazy! The whole battle has stopped to see what is happening!
Sycamore just landed a hit on Darkrai… But it seems anytime we attack him, we get hit with some kind of intense headache…
Well, whatever you are doing must be working! Please be careful and remember that we are all rooting for your return!
As it went silent in my head again, I thought I finally felt some kind of relief from the headache. Finally able to think properly, I picked myself up. Looking around, Dusty and Eliza seemed to be recovering and regaining their bearings, but Sycamore and Darkrai were still on the ground. Although the headache was powerful and still lingered, I knew now was the time to strike if we wanted to ever get out of here.
"Sycamore! Finish Darkrai off!" I yelled, pointing over at the fallen Darkrai. But he did not respond, instead staying hunched over facing towards the floor; it was unlike Sycamore to not respond. He was still in his Mega Evolution form, but he looked to be twitching a little. "...Sycamore?" I asked quietly, fearing something terrible had happened.
At that point, I saw Darkrai float up from the ground, still grasping his head. Snapping out of his daze, he looked over at Sycamore and I. And although I couldn't see his evil grimace form, I knew he had one once he broke out into another laughing fit.
"...I knew you two would not be able to control it…!" he cried, flying up higher.
"No, Sycamore…" I muttered, taking a step back in caution. As I did, Sycamore stood up finally, but it didn't look like it was by his own volition. He lumbered to his feet, his posture uneven and his movements shaky. Turning his head towards me, I gasped as I saw his eyes completely red, and again missing that glint from before.
"...Yes, Lucario… Let all the power flow through you!" Darkrai yelled. Sycamore then fully turned around, his gaze focused solely on me. His face looked tense, as if all his muscles were scrunched up in pain. Unable to speak or act, I caught a glimpse of his Mega Bracer on his arm. The normally active red stone looked to be completely black, and all of the energy that connected it to my Mega Bracelet seemed to be stagnant.
"Need… More…" Sycamore suddenly muttered under his breath. His voice sounded nothing like it usually did, instead sounding much more scruff and untamed. Still unable to act, Dusty rushed in and skidded to a stop in front of me, holding his arm out in front of me, just in case.
"G-Gar!" Dusty yelped, obviously trying to get Sycamore's attention. But Sycamore didn't even look up at him, glaring straight through.
"...Listen to me, Lucario! These three here are the ones stopping you from getting your power!" Darkrai boomed, his voice echoing even louder around us. Sycamore seemed to respond to Darkrai's voice, looking up for a second towards where he was floating.
"Hey! No, Sycamore, don't listen to him!" I shouted back, seeing what Darkrai was doing.
"Garbo!" Dusty chimed in.
"Yeah, Darkrai isn't your friend!" Eliza yelled from the side.
"...It is you or them, Lucario… Trust your senses, and find the power!" I didn't shout back because I couldn't just tell him to not trust his senses. Sycamore then looked back down, eyes never leaving me for a moment. He then struggled to say,
"The… Power! I… I need it!" Before shuddering and getting into a battle stance. Darkrai let out a single laugh once he saw what was happening.
"...Well, chosen one, I do have to admit that this is a cruel way to go out, even by my standards…" None of us responded, his insult obviously getting under all our skin. "...Betrayed by your own ally in a blind power trip… Now I am confident that you will not be able to beat the power of Mega Evolution before the portal falls into my command…!" I was beyond being sick of his laughter at this point but seeing Sycamore like this was enough to keep my mouth sealed. Nonetheless, I knew immediately that this was not the end. Deep down, I was convinced that there was still a way out of this; this was no place to lose hope.
"Dusty, are you okay to battle?" He still seemed weak from before, but he looked over his shoulder and hesitantly nodded yes. "I am sorry for making you do this… But it looks like it's up to us to get out of here now!"
Dusty did not have time to respond before Sycamore sprang into action, lunging at him with his fists aglow with a red energy. However, Dusty was more than prepared for stuff like this in battle. He immediately wrapped his tendrils around Sycamore wrists and grabbed tight, attempting to hold him back from attacking. Backing up a bit, I caught a glimpse of Sycamore still lunging at him, but Dusty was keeping his distance as best as he could.
Within moments however, it was clear that Sycamore was winning the struggle. His strength was too much for Dusty, and he was pushing in. Unable to make up any ground and still weak from before, Dusty seemed to be locked in place, stuck waiting for Sycamore to make his move. And Sycamore didn't hesitate to do just that, putting all his force into a jab, catching Dusty right in the chest. He immediately crumbled to the ground, letting go of his grip on Sycamore's forearms. My heart dropped as Sycamore pummeled Dusty into the ground, striking punch after punch into the same spot.
I heard Darkrai laughing yet again and glanced up to see him enjoying what was happening. Dusty, unable to move, was stuck in place as Sycamore blindly stayed on the assault, never letting up for a moment.
Finally, Sycamore leapt off Dusty and began preparing one final wind-up punch before socking him right in his side. The attack had so much power, Dusty flew across the ice, landing over to the side with a hearty thump. As he skidded to a stop, Eliza couldn't get out of the way in time and got clipped by his arm, sending both of them backwards until friction finally stopped both of them.
Strangely however, right as he landed, I felt a quick pain in my head, similar to the headache from earlier. In fact, I think everyone did for a moment, as Sycamore flinched and paused, probably expecting another terrible headache. Glancing over to where Dusty had landed, I found that he had fallen onto the original crack in the floor, making it noticeably bigger. I didn't have time to think more about it however as I heard from in front of me,
"Give me… My power!" Turning back, I found Sycamore staring at me again with his now terrifying eyes, clutching his head with one of his free hands. Knowing what was coming next, I instinctively dove to my side as he lunged in at me, just narrowly missing his grasp. Getting back up on my feet as fast as I could, I knew I had to get away as quickly as possible, and the only direction to do that was towards Dusty and Eliza.
Running for my life, I got about halfway over when I looked over my shoulder to see Sycamore practically flying at me with how fast he was going. Falling to my knees, he soared right over me, nearly rebounding midair to turn around and jump at me again. This time however, I didn't have enough time to fully react to his movement and merely stepped to the side as he struck his fist into the ground just inches away from me.
However, Sycamore wasn't going to let me get away this time and instantly struck me in the gut with his forearm since he was so close; even just a tiny blow from him was powerful enough to send me off my feet. Landing hard, I tumbled a couple times before turning over on my back and stopping right about where Dusty had first hit.
With the wind knocked out of me, it took me a second to comprehend that I still needed to run. So when I looked up and realized Sycamore was standing just before me with his right fist aglow, I winced, expecting to be struck with all his might. Right as he brought his fist down however, I saw Dusty's tendril wrap around it, stopping it inches before my body.
Somehow on his feet, Dusty was covered in the most amount of bruises and scratches I'd ever seen him in, but he still had a determined look on his face. I guess since this was still Darkrai's nightmare, the pain of Sycamore's attacks wasn't as bad as I thought. Eliza was off to his side at a safe distance, looking on in awe.
However, Sycamore seemed more than ready to deal with this. Grabbing onto Dusty's tendril with his attacking hand, he pulled him in with a single tug while simultaneously preparing another attack with his free hand. Smacking Dusty right in the face, Sycamore let go of his tendril and let him fly backwards again, but not as far this time. However, he certainly got more air, easily clearing Eliza before landing hard on his side and bouncing a couple times. I gulped nervously once Dusty was dealt with, knowing I was next on the chopping block.
While still on my back, I attempted to crawl away right as Sycamore turned back. Taking a step towards me, he grabbed my leg and pulled me back towards him, getting ready for another attack. With nowhere to go, there was only one option left.
"Sycamore, please! Stop what you're doing and listen!" He didn't respond and instead twitchily held his hands out, preparing what looked to be a double Force Palm.
"...No, Lucario, listen to the power, not to the human!" Darkrai interjected.
"Come on Sycamore, I know you're in there! Please, you've got to break free!" Again, there was no response as his paws began to glow with a red-teal energy.
"...Do not falter, Lucario! The power is within your grasp!" Knowing my voice alone couldn't stop him, I rapidly searched through my head for a solution. Thinking back to the labyrinth that Dusty and I had saved him from before, I remembered how the Mega Stones had snapped him out of his trance.
Reaching up and grabbing hold of his arm in between his paw and the bracer, I felt a massive surge of energy burst through my body, enough to cause what felt to be a burning sensation all through me. Immediately letting go to get away from the pain, I noticed that Sycamore had faltered and let the attack lose some of its power for a moment before getting right back into it. Realizing this could be my chance I gritted my teeth and grabbed back ahold of his arm.
As the searing pain ran through me again, I did all I could to withstand it, but the longer I held on, the worse it seemed to get, as if our energy was being transferred somehow. To make matters worse, as I looked up, Sycamore still seemed to be preparing his attack, and it was nearly ready to be let loose. I was out of time.
With my strength getting sapped up, my mind ran blank with options, and I nearly passed out from the energy. But suddenly, all the pain seemed to dissipate as I felt something click on in my head. Glancing up at his distressed face and into his glowing red eyes, a weak smile made its way out onto my face.
With my other hand, I reached up and adjusted his scarf, which had long since been turned around from all the fighting. Spinning it back out front, I gave it a quick brush with the back of my hand. As I let go of it, I saw him wince for a moment, as if that had gotten his attention. But without enough energy of my own, I didn't have the strength to reach back up.
Putting everything I had into holding onto his arm, I struggled to move my own free arm, but I was eventually able to make a fist and place it over my heart. As I did, I saw him react more, his posture getting even more shaky than before and the expression on his face turning to what looked to be grief. But although I seemed to be getting through to him, it looked like he was still about to release his Force Palms. Giving up the last of my energy, I was able to mutter,
"...We'll always… Be friends…" Hearing my voice one last time, I saw him blink a couple times and shake his head. Right before I was about to pass out, there was a split second where his eyes regained the lost glint despite still glowing red. And in that moment he replied,
"…Luke!" As my arm slipped from his forearm, all the energy transferred back into him at once. Coming back to it, I saw him reel back in pain, his Force Palm still being charged. But instead of letting it out on me, he stumbled backwards and caught himself right in time to send two full power Force Palm directly into the ground. The first thing that happened was the shockwave from the attack launched me off the ground, sending shockwaves of Mega Evolution energy out with it. But right after while I was still off the ground, a resounding cracking noise rang out through the air, followed by a terribly loud shattering.
Immediately, yet another headache ran through my head, the worst one by far. I'm unsure how I didn't pass out, but it was probably because I had just recuperated from all the energy I'd lost before.
Skidding to a stop on my stomach, I stayed down on the ground with my head in my hands as Darkrai's painful yelp perforated through the space before trailing off. I decided to wait for everything to blow over like it had previously, but as the pain gripped me at full force, I figured it wasn't going to stop this time.
It was then at that moment that I noticed an ongoing sound that almost sounded like a gusty breeze. Pushing myself up on my arms, I looked up to see what looked to be a decently large, jagged hole in the ground. All around it, a dark energy that looked similar to smoke seemed to be spilling into the crater, almost like a vacuum. No doubt that this was our ticket out.
To the left, Sycamore was on the ground laying away from me. He looked like he'd returned to his normal form but had obviously fainted. Glancing to my right, I caught a glimpse of Dusty struggling to get up on his feet right next to Eliza who was doing the same. All the while, Darkrai was nowhere to be found.
Putting everything I had into standing up, I quickly realized that there was no way I'd be able to get onto my feet without a little help.
"D-Dusty! Eliza!" I yelped as loudly as I could, hoping they would hear me. Turning back, I found the two of them slowly coming over, using each other to walk. As they approached, Dusty gradually hoisted me up with his other arm, nearly knocking all of us over in the process. The moment I put weight on my knees, I almost collapsed back down, but luckily caught myself last minute.
"Dusty… Please, take Sycamore through! You're… You're the only one with enough strength to do so!" I whisper-shouted to him. Dusty, also wincing through the pain, looked to be uncertain of my decision. "Please, Dusty! We'll… Make it!" He hesitated for a moment before giving me a weak nod. Carefully letting go of the two of us, he then hobbled over to Sycamore.
"C-come on, Luke!" Eliza suddenly shouted besides me, beckoning forwards with her hand. "I don't… I don't think I can take much more!" Giving a sluggish nod of my own, the two of us set out for the crater.
Supporting each other the best we could, we made sure to help the other if they faltered. All the while, the splitting pain rang through our heads, making any mistake a costly one.
When we were about ten feet away from the hole, Dusty had finally gotten over to where Sycamore had fainted. Lethargically picking him up in his arms, Dusty limped over to the crater before falling forwards into the hole, letting gravity take him. As the two of them passed out of view, there was a flash of light from within and a distinct "shlorp" sound, similar to the sound that the Ultra Beasts' portals made. I felt a pang of relief from that sound, knowing that we were finally this close to the exit.
Step after agonizing step, the crater seemed so far away at this speed.
"We're… So close!" I yelped out of instinct, my thoughts being transmitted directly to my mouth. Watching the side of the crater get deeper the more we traversed, I was ready to dive in as soon as I was close enough.
Within just a few feet, I could see the same light from the bottom of the hole swirling. Both Eliza and I sped up, knowing the exit was within our grasp. But suddenly, something struck the ground in front of us, sweeping us off our feet. I immediately lost track of Eliza as the force sent me to the side and not into the hole.
Although it wasn't a hard fall, the headache made the landing so much worse. Paralyzed in pain on my stomach for a moment, I quickly recognized that there was only one place that attack could have come from. Fearfully peeking up, I found Darkrai just before me, preparing a Dark Pulse with his arms outstretched. Instead of floating however, he looked to be standing on a pair of slender legs, but his posture was weird, and it looked like he was having trouble staying up.
"...You will go no further, chosen one! I will not let you… Escape!" he shouted, the pain clear in his voice. Knowing I couldn't get back up, my hopes were extinguished, but only temporarily.
"Hiiiiyah!" I suddenly heard from my right as Eliza jumped into Darkrai, knocking him out of the way. They both fell to the ground, completely out of energy, but Eliza landed on top of him; the pain in my head briefly intensified as they made contact. Completely amazed (and especially by the fact that she hadn't just passed right through Darkrai), I watched as Eliza looked up and yelped,
"Get going, Luke! Save… the Pokémon World!" The words echoed around in my head, as I took a second to fully realize what she was doing.
"Eliza, what are you–"
"Didn't you hear me?! Get out of here! I told you before that I made up my mind to help you… And I'm gonna stick to it! So go, and let me handle Darkrai…!" My emotions flared up, but there was nothing left at this point. Eliza was right, and there was no time to grieve or mourn for her sacrifice. It was now or never.
Thanking her in my head quickly, I nodded once in compliance. Crawling forwards as fast as I could, I got my hands over the side right as Darkrai called out,
"...No, stop!" Right as he was about to attempt something though, I made the final push and leaned forwards like Dusty had before plunging into the hole. There was a quick second of falling before a weird sensation overcame me, almost like the reverse of what I felt when Darkrai captured us. As the light enveloped me, I closed my eyes and finally gave into the stimulus, leaving the nightmare once and for all.