Chapter 374:
"Gardevoir?"
Seeing the opposing Darkrai appear, the usual smile on Gardevoir's face paused briefly, but it quickly realized this wasn't the Darkrai it knew.
Since it wasn't the one it knew, there was no psychological burden.
"Darkrai, Dark Void!"
Just at that moment, the opponent's command was issued.
A pitch-black void, like ink, was hurled towards Gardevoir by Darkrai with extreme speed.
Seeing this, some audience members felt their hearts tighten.
It's worth noting that in previous battles, after this Darkrai appeared, it dealt with both of Contestant Fiona's Pokémon using the same combo: one Dark Void followed by one Dream Eater.
With a near-perfect sleep rate and the immense damage from Dream Eater combined with Darkrai's ability, it basically secured a one-combo knockout.
"Dark Void! Darkrai uses Dark Void again! Let's see how Gardevoir handles this move... Wait? The Psychic-type Gardevoir didn't dodge?"
The announcer, riding his Aegislash, paused his commentary upon seeing the battle scene below.
Logically, even if it's fast, judging by this Gardevoir's demonstrated precise energy control, a simple Teleport could easily create distance!
But before he could express his surprise in the commentary, an even more bewildering scene unfolded before him.
The Dark Void landed on Gardevoir. Instead of directly sinking into its body, the Dark Void came to rest in the palm of Gardevoir's hand.
And stopped there.
The announcer was stunned. "Huh?"
Meanwhile, Gardevoir below looked at the Dark Void in its palm, a hint of nostalgia flashing in its eyes.
"Gardevoir..." (Long time no see...)
It looked towards the distant Darkrai, then back at the Dark Void in its hand.
This power had been with it for decades, often plunging it into nightmares in the past.
But now, its resistance to status conditions was maxed out.
And it had even mastered this power directly.
However, after its strength increased, it rarely used this power anymore, especially after arriving at Kaede's breeding house—it had never used this power.
So, seeing Dark Void again now inevitably brought a bit of nostalgia.
But this nostalgic scene, in Tobias's eyes, looked like something out of a horror story.
"What?"
When the Dark Void was about to hit Gardevoir, he had felt a surge of joy, thinking this could defeat the most mysterious Gardevoir, giving him a chance of winning the subsequent battles.
But seeing the Dark Void land without causing a sleep effect, instead being toyed with like a plaything, left Tobias utterly bewildered.
What did this mean?
Watching the pitch-black Dark Void slowly dissipate into nothingness in Gardevoir's hand,
Tobias gritted his teeth. "Darkrai, use Dark Void again!"
He'd rather believe that this particular Dark Void failed to put Gardevoir to sleep.
Because this move, while having a high sleep rate upon hit, doesn't guarantee sleep.
The greater the power gap, the lower the probability of sleep becomes.
And against Psychic-type Pokémon, the probability is slightly lower again.
Not that Gardevoir could somehow master Dark Void and turn the tables.
A second Dark Void, following his command, shadowed Gardevoir.
But the result remained exactly the same.
Gardevoir similarly nullified this Dark Void.
"Incredible, incredible... Oh my! Darkrai's signature move is completely ineffective against Gardevoir? Why is that?"
The announcer above widened his eyes, commentating in disbelief.
This scene left him baffled yet again.
He'd lost count of how many times Kaede had left him astonished.
For this Pokémon League Conference, he had no idea how much Pokémon knowledge he had crammed.
Especially after learning each contestant's Pokémon, he would spend his rest time researching relevant Pokémon knowledge, all to avoid being speechless during battles due to lack of information.
But now, he truly felt like he hadn't read those books at all.
Now he could only use "incredible" to build atmosphere.
The "incredible" from his previous sentence hadn't even faded, when Kaede's next command left him even more stunned.
"Gardevoir, use Dark Void!"
An equally pitch-black Dark Void appeared not only in Darkrai's grasp but also materialized in both of Gardevoir's hands. Moreover, judging by its scale, it was clearly larger than Darkrai's.
With a sweep of its hands, Gardevoir hurled the Dark Voids swiftly towards the opposing Darkrai.
Witnessing this, Tobias almost shouted, "How is that possible?!"
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. The confidence and composure he usually displayed in other battles vanished instantly, and he even forgot to issue a command.
Not just him; even Darkrai on the field was stunned.
The familiar energy fluctuation of the dark energy rings clearly indicated it wasn't Psychic-type energy but the genuine Dark Void.
And in terms of energy intensity, it even surpassed his own by a significant margin.
By the time the Dark Void loomed larger before its eyes, Darkrai finally reacted, wanting to evade. But at that moment, a powerful pressure fell upon it.
The moment it tried to break free, Darkrai realized.
Psychic energy had formed a confined space around it!
Although this Psychic energy couldn't harm it, a Dark-type, it could trap it.
And the intensity of this Psychic energy was such that it couldn't break free quickly!
It could only watch helplessly as the Dark Void landed on itself. Then, its eyes closed as if falling into a deep slumber, slowly descending towards the ground.
When it hit the ground, the entire audience was stunned.
The Nightmare God, was put to sleep by Gardevoir?
And using its own signature move, no less?
Were they kidding?
"Th-this... Darkrai was hit by Dark Void and fell asleep..."
At this moment, even the announcer found his own commentary absurd.
But the scene before him was undeniably happening.
Just as Darkrai was about to hit the ground, its eyes snapped open, quickly shaking off the Dark Void's effect, its eyes now filled with rage.
It was the embodiment of nightmares. How could it nearly be hypnotized by a Dark Void?
That was unacceptable!
If Dark Void didn't work, then it would use other moves!