During the most proud and glorious period of his life, Darkrai had pursued two things. One was, naturally, absolute power; the second was a position as a true Legendary Pokémon — in other words, divinity.
As Darkrai, the god of nightmares, the divinity that should belong to his class was still vacant. From the moment of his birth until now, it had always remained vacant.
Back then, when he faced and came into contact with Giratina, to some extent it was also because he wanted to sense within it the aura of a true Legendary Pokémon, and thus find a way to take his own step forward.
Darkrai had a premonition that if he managed to break through the limit of the second barrier of the Champion level — or rather, if he completely surpassed the Champion level — then the divinity belonging to the god of nightmares would likely descend upon him.
Only, back then, he had been mercilessly defeated by Giratina. But now, he once again felt the aura of divinity from this Moltres.
Of course, compared to Giratina before, that aura was still quite inferior, yet its qualitative level was the same.
The opponent was a true Legendary Pokémon!
Darkrai felt the fighting spirit in his heart grow increasingly intense.
Cain also took that opportunity to scan Moltres' data.
Pokémon: Moltres (Black)
Gender: Genderless
Level: 94
Types: Fire + Flying
Ability: Pressure
Held Item: Divine Function – Fire Bird
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Wing Attack, Ember, Fire Spin, Agility, Endure, Ancient Power, Flamethrower, Safeguard, Air Slash, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Roost, Hurricane
Learned Moves: Tailwind, Heat Wave, Snore, Laser Focus, Sky Attack, Defog
TM Moves: None
Moltres' data had not changed much. Aside from some variations in its stat values, everything else remained the same as the last time Cain had seen it.
Fire Bird!
In other words, that was the divinity possessed by this Moltres. In reality, it could also be called the spirit of fire, representing a portion of all flames in the Pokémon world.
Not all flames. If it could contain every flame, then Moltres would not be classified as a third-tier Legendary Pokémon, but rather as a first-tier one.
"Darkraaii!"
Darkrai positioned himself in front of Cain, staring intently at Moltres, with intense battle intent shining in his eyes.
At this moment, he still had within his body the Ghost-type energy of Giratina, only that energy no longer affected his own combat at all, and all of his power circulated freely.
Just as the two elders of Mt. Pyre had told him before, what remained now was refinement for him. Whether through daily training or battles against powerful opponents, all of it could accelerate the depletion of the energy inside his body.
Of course, the best option was still to find powerful opponents to fight. As the energy within his body churned violently, part of the Ghost-type energy would naturally dissipate.
And this powerful Moltres before him, which also possessed the aura of a true Legendary Pokémon, was clearly the best opponent for Darkrai.
Previously, due to lack of time, although Cain's Darkrai had a very high level, it had not learned many moves. Mainly because he had not used TMs, so some of its shortcomings had remained unaddressed.
But during this period, Cain took advantage of the League's authority and Team Heaven's gathering capabilities to compensate for that weakness of Darkrai.
With his current identity and status, there was practically no TM he could not obtain.
Pokémon: Darkrai (Black) — Corrupt
Gender: Male
Level: 91
Type: Dark
Ability: Bad Dreams
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Ominous Wind, Disable, Quick Attack, Hypnosis, Feint Attack, Nightmare, Double Team, Haze, Dark Void, Nasty Plot, Dream Eater, Dark Pulse
Learned Moves: Foul Play, Snatch, Spite, Wonder Room, Knock Off, Snore, Drain Punch, Trick, Last Resort, Focus Punch, Throat Chop, Shock Wave, Icy Wind
TM Moves: Calm Mind, Taunt, Ice Beam, Protect, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Will-O-Wisp, Snarl, Confide
It had learned, to varying degrees, moves of different attributes. It could not be said that it mastered all of them perfectly, but at least it had certain means to respond to Pokémon of different attributes.
Upon seeing Darkrai appear before Cain, the Pokémon standing beside Moltres instinctively took a step back.
That was not a Pokémon they could face!
Beneath that strange reddish-white object resembling teeth that covered part of its face, Darkrai's mouth opened and closed slightly. A low yet rough sound emerged from it, and the Pokémon who heard it immediately felt pressure in their minds, while their Special Attack decreased.
Among those affected by the Special Attack reduction was Moltres. As a Fire-type Pokémon, if its Special Attack decreased, that meant a major weakening for a Fire-type Pokémon whose explosive power relied precisely on that stat.
The battle began the instant Darkrai appeared, without giving the opposing Pokémon even the slightest time to prepare.
"KRASHIAR!"
Feeling the mental change within its body, Moltres' eyes seemed ready to spit fire. The battle had not even begun, and its Special Attack had already been reduced. For the proud Legendary Pokémon Moltres, that was something intolerable.
The dignity of a Legendary Pokémon had been offended!
Fwoosh!
It flapped its wings, carrying blazing flames, and flew skimming the ground, charging directly toward Darkrai.
Seeing Moltres' movement, Darkrai's gaze hardened. He extended both hands horizontally, and on his two black hands appeared two masses of energy, one black and one yellow.
The black energy mass was as dark as ink, resembling a bottomless black hole. The longer one looked at it, the more it seemed to draw you in.
The yellow energy mass appeared to be forcibly condensed lightning. Threads of golden electricity escaped from it and dissipated into the air. Cain, standing behind Darkrai, felt the hair on his body stand on end.
Moltres was charging straight toward Darkrai's position, so Darkrai could not dodge to block it. After all, Cain stood directly behind him; if he dodged, it was very likely that Cain would be the one to receive Moltres' attack.
Knowing this, Cain did not hesitate. With a flash, he disappeared from the spot and retreated slightly, avoiding becoming a burden to Darkrai.
Darkrai brought both claws together and hurled them toward Moltres, who was already completely engulfed in flames as it lunged forward.
(End of Chapter)