Darkrai, clad in black with white and red decorations on its head, and Haxorus, a mass of muscle with brown skin, whose aura was like a sharp axe!
The battle began directly when both sides' auras reached their peak. Darkrai and Haxorus charged at each other simultaneously. The difference was that Darkrai's movements were silent, while Haxorus's running shook the ground!
Aoki was quite familiar with a Pokémon like Haxorus, as his own teacher had a very powerful one.
This type of Pokémon is naturally capable of learning Dragon Dance and Swords Dance, two extremely powerful boosting moves. Therefore, if given enough time to accumulate power, their potential Upper limit is not limited by level or potential.
However, the opponent clearly hadn't developed Haxorus in that direction. It couldn't, like Blaziken, use Swords Dance or Dragon Dance even while moving, by splitting its focus.
In that case, in front of Darkrai, who had an absolute advantage in speed, it would be impossible for Haxorus to comfortably use Swords Dance and Dragon Dance.
The distance between the two closed in an instant.
"Haxorus, Taunt! Dragon Claw!" Brad roared.
Haxorus, receiving the command, flashed its eyes. The two giant, axe-like teeth on its head glowed red, aimed at the charging Darkrai.
If Taunt succeeded, Darkrai would only be able to use offensive moves for a period of time.
But Darkrai's eyes narrowed, and a black, disc-like dark hole appeared in front of it, directly covering Haxorus's Taunt. Driven by Darkrai, this black hole charged straight towards Haxorus.
Feeling the fear emanating from the black hole, Haxorus's expression changed slightly. Its Dragon Claw, originally meant for attack, became a defensive Dragon Claw. "Clang clang—" Two claws completely shattered the black hole.
This black hole was Darkrai's exclusive move, Dark Void!
It could forcibly drag hit enemies into sleep. As long as the opponent wasn't significantly stronger than Darkrai, there was almost no chance of breaking free after being hit.
Haxorus sensed the threat from it, which was why it chose to sacrifice its attack to shatter the black hole.
"Haxorus, Rock Tomb!" Just as it shattered the black hole, Brad's voice rang out again.
Because behind the shattered black hole was the closely following Darkrai!
Two rocky chains rose from behind Haxorus, twisting and binding towards Darkrai.
However, Darkrai, who had been maintaining telepathy with Aoki, naturally wouldn't just stand there and wait for death. Its dark body trembled, becoming blurry, and new Darkrai figures shot out from it.
Double Team!
Haxorus's Rock Tomb missed its target.
With so many Darkrai appearing at once, Haxorus truly didn't know which one was the real Darkrai.
Fierce auras emanated from all the Darkrai, and there were Dark Pulse attacks from all directions.
"Haxorus! Draco Meteor!" In such a situation, only a wide-range attack could break the deadlock. And Haxorus's strongest area attack at this moment was, of course, the strongest Dragon-type group move, Draco Meteor!
A yellow energy orb shot from Haxorus's mouth into the sky. Immediately after, huge meteors, trailing thick flames, fell from the sky, raining down on all the Darkrai.
However, before Draco Meteor shattered all the shadows, Darkrai's Dark Pulse successfully hit Haxorus, causing some pain to Haxorus, whose special defense wasn't particularly outstanding to begin with.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The meteors slammed into the ground, leaving behind deep craters, and at the same time, all of Darkrai's shadows were shattered.
This time, Brad had learned his lesson and didn't let Haxorus's Draco Meteor attack Aoki, but rather focused the attack on Darkrai.
If he were to make such a mistake again and Haxorus were taken out by Darkrai in one go, it would be a fatal blow to him.
However, even though Draco Meteor shattered all the shadows, it didn't cause any damage to Darkrai. With quick reflexes, it successfully dodged the meteor attacks with an Extreme Speed. Within the attack range of Draco Meteor, the only safe place was where the skill user was located.
But for a Pokémon skilled in special attacks to rush in front of a Pokémon whose foundation is its body and is skilled in physical attacks, it's tantamount to delivering itself.
Brad, instead of being surprised by Darkrai's actions, was delighted.
In fact, Aoki initially hesitated about this command, but Darkrai's words eventually dispelled his concerns.
If he truly wasn't skilled in close-quarters combat, then when he and his sister fought together in the past, who was the one charging at the front?
Because of this, Aoki completely trusted Darkrai.
However, this slight hesitation showed that the tacit agreement between Aoki and Darkrai was not high enough. Otherwise, let alone hesitation, Aoki might have actively asked Darkrai to charge at Haxorus from the start.
But this kind of battle was precisely a process for Aoki and Darkrai to get to know each other. Only by experiencing more battles could their rapport become higher and their combat power stronger.
Fortunately, this hesitation did not have any impact on the overall battle.
In the blink of an eye, Darkrai appeared in front of Haxorus.
Just as Haxorus grinned viciously, preparing to attack Darkrai, it found that it was the one who was injured first.
Darkrai, charging forward with momentum, its claws wrapped in dense dark energy, fiercely raked Haxorus's waist, successfully tearing through its scales and leaving three claw marks!
Feeling the pain, Haxorus was enraged. Blue-purple Dragon-type energy appeared on its sharp claws, and it swung them fiercely towards Darkrai's head.
Crouch! Lean forward! Retreat while swinging the claw!
All in one smooth motion.
Darkrai utilized its flexible body to the extreme. Not only did Haxorus's attack fail to hit it, but Haxorus itself took another attack from Darkrai.
It's understandable, really. Darkrai was fighting Haxorus with stronger combat experience and awareness. Even if Haxorus had an advantage in physical strength, Darkrai's own speed advantage was also utilized very well.
If you can't hit your opponent, then what's the use of having such strong power?
It's like someone with the strength to dominate a master fighting someone who is only at the platinum level. Even if the difference in operational skill isn't significant, the difference in awareness is an absolute Rolling!
Moreover, from many detailed operations, small advantages accumulated little by little will slowly undergo a qualitative change, eventually becoming the absolute condition that determines victory.
This method of slowly accumulating advantages and wearing down the opponent is called snowballing!
When the snowball is big enough to crush the opponent, victory is decided.
The bloodstains Darkrai left on Haxorus's body, in a small sense, had no effect on Haxorus. But when these bloodstains accumulated to a certain extent, they would become the huge rock that crushed it.
Swish—
Haxorus's Dragon Claw swung out again, passing less than a centimeter from Darkrai's face, still failing to hit Darkrai. But as soon as its attack passed, Darkrai, who had been retreating, immediately closed in again, leaving its mark on Haxorus's body.
Now Haxorus looked very miserable, covered in blood, with hardly a single scale intact.
But Darkrai still frowned tightly.
To be honest, Darkrai itself was not satisfied with the results of its recent attacks, nor was it satisfied with its control over its own body.
This was because its body couldn't keep up with its consciousness; its strength hadn't fully recovered, so it couldn't meet its own demands.
If it weren't for sufficient precise control, and if it hadn't given itself enough lead time, it probably would have been hit by Haxorus's attacks earlier.
So Darkrai was actually not satisfied with this operation.
But this was also why it needed to familiarize itself with its body first, slowly finding its rhythm in battle.
However, after this period of close-quarters combat, it had pretty much figured out Haxorus's fighting style and attack methods. It no longer needed to try further, and it had no interest in doing so. Aoki also felt that Darkrai should have gotten used to it by now, and it was time to end the battle.
Again, perfectly dodging Haxorus's attack by a precise centimeter, Darkrai then casually launched a Dark Void, directly engulfing Haxorus.
After the Dark Void dissipated, Haxorus was revealed, completely fallen into a deep sleep.
A Pokémon that has fallen asleep, to the Nightmare Pokémon, is like food placed on a platter, allowing it to choose whether to eat or not.
However, Brad's emotions ranged from joy when Darkrai initially sought close combat with Haxorus, to complex feelings of being unable to cause any damage to Darkrai after fighting for a while, and instead being toyed with and covered in wounds by Darkrai, to now, terror after Haxorus fell asleep.
He knew that any sleeping Pokémon, in front of Darkrai, known as the Nightmare Pokémon, was like fish on a chopping board, and Darkrai was the knife, free to do as it pleased.
"Stop!! I'm willing to tell you everything I know, I can tell you everything without missing a single detail!" Brad begged.
If Haxorus also lost its combat capability, for someone like him who had no Pokémon with healing abilities, wasn't a breeder, and didn't have special Pokémon healing potions, Haxorus's recovery period would be very long. And during this time, let alone trying to snatch Space Stones, even self-preservation would be a huge problem.
Feraligatr might be able to protect his safety, but Feraligatr was just one Pokémon, and it couldn't be everywhere at once.
Aoki glanced at the anxious Brad, a smile appearing on his lips.
I knew you would choose to tell me yourself.
However, Aoki ignored him. His psychic power flashed in his eyes, and Darkrai, receiving his command, instantly understood. Its blue eyes turned dark.
A fierce energy erupted from Darkrai, enveloping Haxorus right in front of Brad.
Nightmare!
But this was not the end of Darkrai's actions. Another surge of psychic power emerged from it, attaching itself to Haxorus.
If Mismagius were here, it would certainly understand. The Haxorus lying on the ground was having a nightmare, but that wasn't enough. Suddenly, an even fiercer monster appeared, tearing off a large piece of Haxorus's dream and devouring it. The monster's size grew larger from eating the dream.
It continued to devour Haxorus's dream with increasing intensity, causing great damage to it, both mentally and physically.
However, in the eyes of ordinary people and ordinary Pokémon, Haxorus simply began to tremble, and they could feel its aura plummeting, quickly reaching its lowest point.
Brad's face was grim, but he had no way of dealing with Aoki and Darkrai.
Even Haxorus wasn't a match for Darkrai, and Feraligatr would be even less so. Moreover, a Mega Gengar had been lurking nearby, eyeing them menacingly the whole time. Once Feraligatr left his side, his own safety would have no guarantee whatsoever.
But in reality, even with Feraligatr by his side now, his safety was not guaranteed at all.
Aoki was clearly hoping to diminish the opponent's power and reduce his bargaining chip.
Tap—
Aoki smiled as he jumped off Salamence's back, standing in front of Brad, allowing him to recall Haxorus without any obstruction.
Brad looked at the confident Aoki, feeling a sense of defeat welling up from within.
He had worked hard here for twenty-five years, just wanting to return and exact revenge, to make a name for himself, to wipe away his past disgrace. Yet, he never expected that all the beautiful aspirations in his heart would be shattered by Aoki, piece by piece, and that his true inner nature would be exposed: he was, in fact, a complete failure, and his achievements were worthless compared to Aoki's.
"You... don't seem like a League trainer," Brad said, his voice filled with defeat, devoid of the initial smugness.
Aoki smiled and replied, "Do you think you can still be called a League trainer now?"
Hearing Aoki's words, Brad fell silent.
Indeed, he could no longer be called a League trainer. The hatred and resentment accumulated in his heart over so many years had not faded with the passage of time. Instead, time, like a carving knife, had etched all the hatred into his heart, never to be erased.
So, even if he were to return to the Pokémon world and meekly take up a position in the League, then work alongside the enemies who had once attacked him, this was absolutely unacceptable to him.
Therefore, he only had two choices: either not return to the Pokémon world and end his days here, or return to the Pokémon world, exact his revenge properly, and then find a place to hide, or join a relatively powerful underground organization, such as Team Rocket, or Team Plasma in the Unova region.
Aoki saw that he didn't say anything more, probably realizing his own predicament.
"Now you can tell me who the person who made you like this is, or rather, the secrets of this continent that you've been hinting at, secrets that even the Alliance doesn't know," Aoki asked with interest.
Brad looked at Aoki. He had already roughly guessed his fate, so he wasn't as worried or afraid.
In all likelihood, Aoki would eliminate him after getting the answers he wanted, choosing not to leave any witnesses.
This was what he had sensed from fighting Aoki until now. This young man was not just a pure Alliance trainer; he might have another identity, just like that person from back then.
Brad exhaled a long breath, temporarily setting aside his defeat to Aoki. "Do you have any food on you? Not that jerky kind, give me the factory-made stuff, what you call junk food. Even compressed biscuits are fine."
After twenty-five years here, Brad truly missed those junk foods. If he could have a bite before he died, it would be a wish fulfilled.
Hearing Brad's request, Aoki was also startled, but he understood.
Here, let alone factory-made goods, even getting a little seasoning was incredibly difficult.
Aoki rummaged through his storage space. To be honest, he usually didn't eat such junk food. It wasn't that he thought it lacked nutrition; it was just that Aoki was the type of person who wouldn't crave snacks if he had a full meal.
He finally found a bag of snacks, stored for who knows how long, in the deepest corner of his storage space. Perhaps he had bought it to satisfy a greedy Pokémon's craving once upon a time.
He tossed it directly to Brad.
Seeing what Aoki threw over, Brad's face lit up with surprise. He didn't care how dirty his hands were, opening the package directly and stuffing the contents into his mouth.
Eating a taste he might have only dreamed of for years, Brad's eyes unknowingly became a little moist. He used to love snacks, but after twenty-five years, to eat them again just before death... Although he couldn't personally get revenge, which left him unwilling, being able to eat such snacks at the end was satisfying enough.
Aoki stood silently by, watching Brad, completely disregarding his image. After finishing the contents of the package, he even tore open the bag and licked the crumbs until everything was gone, then showed a look of wanting more.
Aoki, standing nearby, couldn't help but feel that Brad was truly a bit pathetic.
But what needed to be asked still had to be asked. "Can you speak now?"
Brad nodded, still wanting more, and sucked his fingers, saying, "Actually, what the Alliance has never known is that on this continent of time and space, there isn't just no one here. A long time ago, not long after the Alliance rediscovered the passage to this continent, a group of people highly valued by the Alliance were teleported here.
That group of people at the time were called the Alliance's Super Rookies. Although there weren't many of them, it could be said that each of them had the potential to become a Champion!"
Aoki stood silently, listening to Brad slowly recount what he knew.
"And not all of those people successfully returned to the Pokémon world. However, that person wasn't like me, ambushed and left here, but chose to stay here themselves!" Brad said.
"Chose to stay here themselves?" Aoki was stunned.
A look of fear appeared on Brad's face, as if he was extremely wary of that person, even daring not to say their name, or perhaps not even knowing their name at all.
He nodded and said, "That's right! They chose to stay here. This place is rich in resources, and the wild Pokémon are all high-level, which can meet the most basic training and battle needs.
Of course, the most important thing is the flow of time here, which is five times that of the Pokémon world. If calculated according to the Pokémon world's time, growth here can be seen as a fivefold increase in speed.
Do you find it surprising that someone who dares to be so hard on themselves would make this choice?"
Admiration for that person, or rather, for their decisiveness and their desire to become stronger, reappeared in Brad's eyes.
Aoki fell silent.
Because he knew that Brad's words, this person's mindset, was possible. When Aoki first entered this place, he had also thought about whether to stay here for twenty-five years, so that when he returned to the Pokémon world next time, he would ensure his personal freedom with absolute strength.
However, this thought was extinguished by himself as soon as it arose.
Setting aside how much one could grow in twenty-five years here, just living alone in the wild for twenty-five years, could that desire to become stronger still be maintained?
If it could be maintained, such a person deserved success, because they possessed the will to match that success.
But Aoki felt that he couldn't do it.
Yet, the more he couldn't do something, but someone else had, Aoki truly wanted to meet what kind of formidable figure this was.
"Before that person entered here, they were already prepared to stay here, so they brought a large amount of supplies and a vast number of books, hoping to continuously improve their Pokémon while also improving themselves during these twenty-five years.
And don't doubt it, because of that person's status and position in the Pokémon world, knowing the news in advance and preparing these things in advance were all effortless!"
"Then... if such an important person didn't return to the Pokémon world, did the Alliance not have any doubts, or did they not want to bring him back?" Aoki asked.
Brad's eyes flashed with deep disdain. "Pfft, hope for the Alliance? You might as well believe you can break through the space barrier of this continent with your own strength!
And that person was very clever. I think he probably made himself fall into a dangerous situation in front of those people back then, so that others would automatically imagine the reasons and process for him not returning to the Pokémon world."
If he proved himself to be a dead man, then what was the point of improving his strength so quickly?
He couldn't return to the Pokémon world. To go back, he needed a Space Stone, but if he wore a Space Stone, the teleportation location would definitely be within the Alliance.
The Alliance wasn't stupid; they would probably guess his situation then.
Aoki looked at the deep-seated fear hidden in Brad's eyes. Even facing death, he wasn't afraid, but thinking of that person could make him feel fear from the bottom of his heart?
"Who exactly is this person?" Aoki asked with a serious expression.
Brad glanced at Aoki. "If I really knew who he was, I wouldn't be alive here."
Hearing this, Aoki was stunned. He had thought the other party knew the specific identity, otherwise, how could he understand these things so clearly?
"All of this was actually learned from the person who caused me to fall to this point, plus my exploration of this continent, which confirmed what he said," Brad said indifferently.
Regarding the person who had once caused him to fall to this point, for some reason, the hatred wasn't as great now. Perhaps when a person is about to die, all hatred can be temporarily forgotten. If he had to die with such heavy hatred, he feared he would die too unwillingly.
"Then you said before that you're not the only one like you here?" Aoki asked again.
Brad nodded, admitting, "That's right, there are people like me who were forced to stay here, but not many. Do you know why the Alliance says the survival rate for people entering here is seventy percent? Actually, very few people are like me, whose Space Stones were stolen, Pokémon stolen, and even all resources stolen.
Most people are like that person from back then, choosing to stay here voluntarily, or rather, their mission is to stay here!"
Hearing Brad's words, Aoki's heart trembled. He seemed to be gradually grasping the key.
"Are you saying... that person from back then actually returned to the Pokémon world without the Alliance knowing, and secretly established a force in the Pokémon world? Every five years, they would send people to infiltrate the Alliance, bring their own people in, and then these people would stay on this continent, slowly occupying it and turning it into their secret base?"
A sense of shock also rose in Aoki's heart. If it was truly as he suspected, then that person's ambition was truly too great.
Brad looked at Aoki in surprise, stared at him for a long time, and then showed a complex expression again. "I don't know either. Actually, your guess is the same as my conjecture when I first learned about this. I just don't know if that person actually went back.
And those who stayed are entrenched in the very center of this continent, which is the high mountain you can see now. It is said that there is a Temple of Time and Space on it, where Dialga and Palkia once lived, and some secrets might be hidden there, but these are things I cannot know.
Once, after I recovered some of my strength, I even went there to investigate, but I was quickly discovered by them. It seems they have a special way of detecting things.
If I hadn't run fast enough, I might have died long ago."
After a slight pause, Brad continued, "Actually, I've also roughly guessed that they won't allow people who know these things but aren't their own to leave here. If I had a Space Stone in my hand, they might have come looking for me. It's just that I'm truly a bit unwilling. I once considered that person my closest friend, but I never expected him to stab me in the back at the end.
Not only did he take my Space Stone, but he also took all my Pokémon for himself, and even, to humiliate me, took all my supplies, including my clothes..."
At this point, the hatred in Brad's eyes rose again.
To be honest, being stabbed in the back by the person he trusted most was the hardest thing for him to accept.
"Then why didn't he kill you? Wouldn't killing you be a permanent solution?" Aoki asked, puzzled.
"I don't know. Maybe he thought I couldn't survive in such a high-risk wild area without any Pokémon," Brad shook his head.
If he hadn't had a sudden inspiration at the end, and secretly placed two undeveloped Pokémon he had never shown anyone in a hidden spot, he truly wouldn't have been able to survive on this continent.
But before he could train Feraligatr and Haxorus, he also lived a life of hiding and seeking here.
It wasn't until he had enough strength that he could barely solve the problem of food and shelter.
"Among the last group of entrants, who attacked you?" Finally, Aoki finally got to this crucial question.
If he said he didn't know who the person hidden deepest was, Aoki could understand, but he must know the person who attacked him, whom he once called his closest friend.
"Riley!" Brad would never forget this name, and his appearance was etched deep into his heart, appearing before his eyes several times a day.
He gritted his teeth as he spoke the person's name, as if the scene of him being attacked was right before his eyes.
But Aoki, hearing this name, was stunned, feeling as if it overlapped with someone in his own memory.
"Riley? The person you're talking about, it wouldn't be someone like this, would it?" Aoki raised his right hand and used his psychic power to draw a face.
Aoki was also very familiar with this face, because it was the face of the commander of the Alliance's Second Legion, Riley! Which was also Black Emissary's real name!
For some reason, Aoki felt a massive whirlpool sweeping towards him. If Black Emissary was truly under that person's command, as Brad said...
"You know Riley?!" Brad's expression turned a bit ugly.
If Aoki knew Riley and their relationship was good, he wouldn't believe his words. And he thought this was very likely, because he knew what kind of person Riley appeared to be on the surface: approachable and very easy to gain others' trust.
"If the Riley you're talking about is him, then you probably won't get a chance for revenge," Aoki said with a smile.
Seeing the smile on Aoki's face, a hint of dead silence appeared in Brad's eyes. As he had expected, the person in front of him knew Riley and trusted him greatly.
Aoki noticed the change in Brad's expression and knew he had probably misunderstood.
"The truth isn't what you think. Actually, this Riley passed away two or three months ago," Aoki said.