Darkrai's wariness ran deep. Although Luther's explanation made him lower his guard slightly, his piercing blue eyes still gleamed with suspicion as he stepped silently backward into the shadows.
Kirlia sent her thoughts across the telepathic link once again. Compared to Luther's words, Darkrai seemed far more willing to trust another Pokémon.
Still half-ready to either strike or slip away, Darkrai hesitated, glancing between Kirlia and Luther.
"If you want revenge on Evergreen, the one who ambushed you, working with me is one of your best options," Luther said calmly. "He and I are mortal enemies. If you still don't believe me, attack me with your nightmare. In that dream, you'll see my memories with Evergreen. That's your domain. You'll know I'm not lying."
Darkrai's expression wavered, uncertainty flickering across his shadowed face.
After a moment of silence, Luther continued in a softer tone: "I've got plenty of healing medicine here. You can use some, rest, and decide after you've thought it through."
Under Darkrai's watchful gaze, Luther walked over to Mai's tent.
As he expected, Marill and the others had fallen under the nightmare's spell; the three Pokémon lay fast asleep, breathing evenly.
Luther reached for the tent flap, ready to wake Mai and ask her to help treat Darkrai. Before he could, however, Houndoom's sharp bark split the night.
Luther spun around just in time to see Darkrai's body melt into the darkness and glide swiftly away until it vanished completely from sight.
"Figures it wouldn't be that simple." Luther rubbed his forehead in frustration.
He was tempted to throw a Poké Ball right then and there. However, forcing the capture of a proud and wounded Pokémon like Darkrai, who had just escaped Evergreen's ambush, would only breed resentment. Even if he succeeded, a being like that would never obey him.
A forced partnership would never be genuine.
Luther didn't want a powerful enforcer; he wanted an ally who shared his hatred for Evergreen. The Pokémon already by his side were more than enough in terms of raw strength. He wasn't particularly interested in the so-called legendaries.
Then, suddenly, he froze. The faint sound of muttering came from inside Mai's tent, a half-awake voice speaking his name.
Luther yanked open the tent flap. Mai was curled up tightly in her pajamas, which were soaked with sweat.
"What…?" Luther pinched her cheek hard, but she didn't wake up.
Even in her sleep, she kept calling his name, her face contorted in pain.
"Damn it, Darkrai, you bastard! You tricked me!"
Luther's furious shout made the three conscious Pokémon flinch. Roused by his anger, they turned in the direction Darkrai had vanished, ready to give chase.
But Houndoom suddenly froze mid-stride, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.
Espurr and Kirlia sensed it, too.
From the black shadows, Darkrai emerged, only half of his body visible. He stared silently at Luther from afar.
Luther stepped forward, his voice cold and steady. "If you want to leave, go. But don't you dare use them as hostages. I have no interest in hunting you down."
Darkrai didn't move.
"Don't push me," Luther warned, pressing his fingers to his temple.
Just before he could order his Pokémon to attack, Darkrai suddenly leapt fully from the shadows. He lifted both hands and slowly gave Luther a single, silent nod.
Luther didn't turn back. He ducked into Mai's tent to check her condition. Her breathing had steadied. The pain had left her face, and the tension in her brow had finally relaxed.
Luther wiped the sweat from her face with a towel and called her name softly, trying to wake her. This time, Mai finally stirred.
As her eyes opened, Luther suddenly realized how close they were and that his hold on her looked a little… too intimate.
He instantly let go and scrambled out of the tent, leaving a dazed Mai inside, trying to piece together what had just happened. Outside, Darkrai was surrounded by Luther's Pokémon. They stood silently and slowly edged closer to Luther.
The dark figure drifted to the side of Mai's tent, lowered itself to the ground, and lay down. It leaned quietly against the tent wall with its eyes closed and an unreadable expression, as if silently saying, "Do what you will."
"Mai, put on a jacket," Luther called. "There's a big guy out here waiting for treatment."
His words snapped Mai out of her confusion. She jumped up and started moving quickly.
"Oh, by the way," Luther asked as she changed, "What's the rarest Pokémon you've ever seen face-to-face?"
Mai, half distracted, answered without thinking, "Regirock!"
"Huh?"
If he remembered right, Regirock, one of the three golems, was currently under Brandon's command.
"My family took me to Hoenn a while back," Mai explained, buttoning her jacket. "We happened to run into Mr. Brandon from the Battle Pyramid, and we got to watch one of his battles in person."
"Unfortunately, I didn't get to see his Registeel or Regice, and I didn't even get the chance to touch Regirock. His Battle Pyramid left in a hurry because of something else." She sighed, visibly disappointed.
When she stepped out of the tent, her eyes immediately fell on the dark, shadowy figure lying beside it.
It was hard to describe.
A lump? A shadow? Something.
Luther chuckled. "You didn't get to touch Regice or Registeel, but Darkrai's right here. You can touch this one all you want."
Darkrai let out a low snort and turned his head away, clearly uninterested in engaging with either of them.
"He's hurt," Luther explained. "Well...more than just a little. Take a look."
Hearing that, Mai's eyes lit up. Her confusion vanished as she instantly shifted into professional healer mode.
She dug through her bag and pulled out healing sprays and berries. She began carefully examining Darkrai from head to toe.
Meanwhile, Luther woke up Marill and the others. After he explained the situation, they all gathered around Darkrai and stared at him in awe.
There was no need to worry about a sudden attack. Darkrai clearly had his pride, and after choosing to stay, he wasn't the kind to go back on his word.
By the time the first light of dawn began to show, Mai had finished tending to all of Darkrai's wounds, methodically spraying each injury with potion.
Throughout this process, Darkrai remained silent and unmoving with his eyes half-shut, as stoic as stone.
Marill nudged Kirlia and whispered her thoughts. "Is he pretending to be some cool, silent type or something?"
Kirlia, nibbling on a biscuit, shoved another piece straight into Marill's mouth to shut her up. When she had finally cleaned and treated the last, deeper wound with Berry powder and healing spray, Mai wiped the sweat from her forehead, stood, and inspected her work proudly.
"The surface injuries are all taken care of. The rest is just energy exhaustion. That'll need time and rest to recover."
She looked at Darkrai curiously.
"Darkrai's a Legendary Pokémon, right? Did he get like this from fighting another Legendary? Maybe Cresselia?"
At that, Darkrai's eyes slowly opened. He made a low, rumbling sound.
Luther couldn't understand the words, but he could clearly sense the emotion: Darkrai was denying it. He didn't consider himself weaker than Cresselia, and Mai's assumption clearly stung his pride.
"He was ambushed," Luther said simply. "By a strange Pokémon Trainer. That's all."
Mai glanced at Luther, sensing that he wasn't telling the whole story. After a moment, however, she decided not to press him further.
(End of chapter.)
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