Chapter 157: The Arrival of the Nightmare God
Feeling frustrated, Ryan and Ruby released Aarune. It felt strange. They had clearly given Aarune a beating, but why did they feel even more annoyed?
After packing up, Ryan and the others continued their journey towards Lavaridge Town. Along the way, they encountered quite a few decent Pokémon, all handled by Sapphire. She also wanted to practice more and surpass Ruby soon, though it was still just a thought.
As the sky gradually darkened, Ryan and the others found an open space to set up camp.
After dinner, they had a brief sparring match between Ruby and Sapphire, washed up, and went to sleep in their respective tents.
Just then, a Starmie flew over from the horizon, and a figure in a black robe stood firmly on its gemstone core. Looking down at the tents of Ryan and his group, the black-robed figure's hood lifted slightly. "Remarkable growth! I hope you can help me with my cause. This Pokémon is my welcome gift. If you can't even handle this, then that's all you amount to."
He then pulled a Poké Ball from his robe, bound with strange chains. He unbuckled the chains and let go, sending the Poké Ball plummeting downward.
The figure chuckled, and Starmie carried him swiftly away.
With the chains released, the Poké Ball could no longer contain the Pokémon within, shattering into dust in mid-air. A dark figure appeared in the air, gazing down at the tents below. If Ryan were awake now, he would surely recognize this Pokémon, for it was none other than the Nightmare God, Darkrai!
Darkrai was a black, shadowy Pokémon. Its head featured a swirling mass of white hair that covered most of its face, revealing only a pair of bright blue eyes. A red, jagged collar-like structure encircled its neck. Long, tattered black cloth-like appendages hung from each shoulder. It normally floated without visible legs, but could manifest them from its lower body when needed.
Darkrai raised its hands high into the air, and a massive black sphere gradually coalesced. It then hurled a Dark Void directly towards the tents below, engulfing all four tents. Ryan and his companions instantly fell into a deep sleep.
Darkrai was furious. It had been tricked by a human, subdued with a strange Poké Ball! Although it had now broken free, it still wanted to unleash its wrath on these humans!
Darkrai, known as the Nightmare God, was infamous for its ability to cast victims into eternal, endless nightmares. While inducing nightmares was a natural ability, the difference between unintentional and deliberate nightmares was profound.
Darkrai, grinning malevolently, slipped into one of the humans' dreams, determined to watch them die helplessly in their nightmare!
As Darkrai entered the dream, a ripple flickered through space, and a beautiful Pokémon appeared above Ryan and his group's tents.
The Pokémon had a light blue body with a yellow underside, and two tufts of purple-red hair extended from its chest in an arc. Yellow ornaments on either side of its head gave it a crescent-shaped appearance. It also had pink, ring-shaped wings on its sides and back, with claw-like tips resting on its chest.
Indeed, following Darkrai's appearance was Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon. Cresselia frowned slightly, thinking: Darkrai is serious this time. Hopefully, I can protect these four humans.
Then, four feathers floated out from Cresselia's body and gradually landed on the four tents. Light emanated from the feathers, providing protection. However, Cresselia knew that her Lunar Wings could only dispel the nightmares Darkrai had unintentionally created. Against such targeted nightmares, they offered only limited protection.
Furthermore, Darkrai had actually entered a human's dream, creating a life-or-death situation. Cresselia wanted to save this person, but she knew that if she also entered their dream, it would only hasten their demise. Everything depended on the strength of their will.
Darkrai entered the dream, only to see a wedding taking place in a beautiful estate. A young man, holding a girl's hand, approached the officiant, about to exchange vows. Darkrai gave a wicked smile and vanished in an instant.
Indeed, Darkrai had entered Ryan's dream, and he was dreaming of his wedding to Lillie.
When the officiant finished speaking, Ryan loudly said, "I do." But when the officiant turned to Lillie, she gave a strange smile and said, "I don't want to! How could someone like him marry me?"
Ryan was stunned. The next second, the scene changed. Amidst a sea of blood and corpses, Ryan stood atop a pile of bones, knife in his right hand, his body soaked in blood. In his left hand, he held Lillie's severed head. Lillie's eyes widened in terror as she cried, "You devil! Why did you kill me?"
Terrified, Ryan immediately dropped the knife, clutching his head and screaming, "No! No! This is a dream. Yes, this is a dream!"
He screamed, pounding his temples, desperately trying to wake up.
But how could a nightmare be escaped so easily? Countless images of Lillie's head floated before Ryan, shouting, "Give me back my life! If you still love me, then come and join me! Come and join me!"
As the voices echoed, Ryan's gaze gradually faded. He picked up the knife from the ground, placed it against his neck, and muttered absently, "Yes, I'm coming to join you. Lillie, wait for me, I'm coming to join you!"
Just as Ryan was about to harm himself, a ray of light shone upon his face, and he suddenly came to his senses. He immediately dropped the knife and looked around. There was no mountain of corpses or sea of blood, no severed heads.
He was now in a dark space. A Pokémon was grinning at Ryan. It said menacingly, "What a pity that meddling Cresselia interfered again!"
"Darkrai!" Ryan said coldly, unable to suppress the rising anger in his heart. "Do you want to die?"
"Haha, humans are always so arrogant," Darkrai sneered. "You humans captured me, and now you have the audacity to threaten me? Do you think I earned the title of Mythical Pokémon for nothing? Do you humans really think we're so easy to bully?!"
Watching Darkrai gradually lose control, Ryan sighed and said, "You've been blinded by hatred. I don't deny that there are terrible humans, but with your current behavior, do you have any right to judge others?"
"Do you think you can resist me?" Darkrai said coldly, looking at Ryan with indifference.
Ryan laughed and said, "It's just bad luck for you that you actually entered my dream. If you had entered anyone else's dream, you probably would have succeeded. And if you had succeeded, believe me, I would hunt you to the ends of the earth. But you entered my dream, so for the rest of your existence, you'll be my Pokémon!"
"Become your Pokémon?" Darkrai laughed. "That's a really funny joke."
"Yeah. Laugh while you can, you'll soon stop laughing," Ryan said calmly.
"Since you want to die so badly, I will grant your wish!" Darkrai said.
With that, it brought its hands together and launched a Dark Pulse at Ryan. Ryan said nonchalantly, "System, can you suppress it?"
"Ding. It might be difficult in the real world, but in the host's dream, I have absolute control. Ten thousand points for one Darkrai."
"Deal."
With that, Darkrai was pinned in place, and the Dark Pulse dissipated completely. Then, an ordinary Poké Ball captured Darkrai, and there was no more resistance.
Ryan walked over, picked up the Poké Ball, and smiled: This Darkrai is truly naive!
(End of Chapter)
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (30+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01