Chapter 375:
"Darkrai, use Shadow Ball!"
"Gardevoir, use Moonblast!"
Darkrai is immune to Psychic-type moves, so Kaede immediately thought of Moonblast.
What he found quite interesting was that, true to its name as the Nightmare God, Gardevoir Dark Void—if used on any other Pokémon, even Champion-level ones—would likely induce sleep. But when used on Darkrai itself, it only caused a brief pause before it recovered.
Darkrai gathered dark energy spheres in its hands.
This is a move most Ghost-type Pokémon can learn, and as the Nightmare God, it could also master it.
But what it faced next was Gardevoir gently raising its right hand, as if a full moon had appeared in the sky, its moonlight threatening to bathe the entire field.
Finally, these moonbeams converged, also forming a spherical energy ball that shot towards Darkrai at an even faster speed.
This was the difference in energy levels.
By the time Darkrai's Shadow Ball had barely taken shape, Gardevoir's Moonblast was already right before its eyes.
Caught off guard, even at such close range, Darkrai could only collide its Shadow Ball with the attack.
*Boom!*
A loud explosion accompanied by intense energy fluctuations stirred up a fog-like smoke that covered an area dozens of meters around it.
Before the smoke could clear, Gardevoir withdrew its hand, quietly floating in the air.
Within the smoke, a figure broke free from the coverage, slowly falling, its eyes already glazed over.
Clearly, just one move collision was enough for Darkrai to lose the ability to battle.
"One-hit... another one-hit KO?"
The announcer stared blankly at the battlefield. He looked at the audience, then back at the field. After waiting three seconds and confirming Darkrai truly couldn't get up, he spoke tremulously, "Darkrai is unable to battle! Gardevoir wins! Contestant Tobias, please choose your second Pokémon...."
"Darkrai?"
"Darkrai?..."
Over there, Tobias looked at the fallen Darkrai, seemingly unwilling to believe it. But after calling out several times with no response, he finally accepted that his Darkrai had truly lost the ability to battle!
Tobias looked up incredulously at Kaede opposite him.
His face remained calm, but within that calm was a hint of anticipation.
Even though he just lost a Pokemon, he still felt that he could put up a fight against Kaede.
Tobias stood rooted to the spot, his mind racing.
The first time he met Darkrai, their first battle together, later capturing Latios and other Pokémon...
Since then, he had never lost a single battle.
One could even say no trainer had ever been able to challenge him.
But coming to this Pokémon League Conference, due to underestimating his opponent, he first had his Latios taken out by Fiona's Perish Song.
He thought that even if he couldn't win against Kaede, he could at least have a back-and-forth battle. But now, Gardevoir had one-shotted his Darkrai.
For a moment, he couldn't accept it.
...
"Contestant Tobias? Contestant Tobias?"
Seeing Tobias frozen, the announcer called out twice, finally pulling Tobias back to reality.
Gardevoir still floated overhead; the grass around them, freshly sprouted, emitted the scent of greenery.
Subconsciously, he lifted his coat. Under the camera's focus, one could clearly see four Poké Balls on Tobias's waist.
He picked up one, recalled the fainted Darkrai, then absently took out another Poké Ball.
But halfway through, his hand paused.
He now seemed to understand how Fiona and Kensuke must have felt back then.
Fiona had her Gengar use Perish Song right at the start to take out his Latios.
So how could he find a way to take out this Gardevoir?
Various thoughts flooded his mind.
This was the first time since he started battling that he felt so desperate.
But after thinking it over and over, he arrived at only one conclusion: there was no way.
No way...
Ever since forming a bond with Darkrai, all the Pokémon he had captured were Legendaries.
To achieve this, he had traveled from the Unova region to various others, and now to the Eastova region, all to trace the footsteps of Legendary Pokémon.
But even so, looking at the Gardevoir floating in the sky, he felt little hope.
"Go, Latios..."
Hearing the announcer urge him again, Tobias could only activate the Poké Ball in his hand and summon Latios.
"Gardevoir, use Dark Void!"
"Light Screen!"
Eager to see Tobias's remaining Pokémon, Kaede issued the command the moment Latios appeared.
The battle outcome was clear. The moment Latios's Light Screen spread to cover its body, Gardevoir's Dark Void landed on it.
But against this Dark Void, the golden-hued Light Screen proved utterly useless.
Dark Void combined with Dream Eater took out Latios in two moves.
Watching Tobias take out another Poké Ball, Kaede's eyes lit up.
*'Come on, come on, let me see.'*
Would it be a Magikarp? Or a new Legendary Pokémon?
But just as he anticipated,
Tobias raising his hand made Kaede freeze.
"I forfeit."
"Forfeit?"
The announcer was stunned, steering Aegislash downward until he was in front of Tobias. "Contestant Tobias, do you confirm your forfeit?"
"Yes." Tobias nodded.
The confident smile he usually wore had vanished, replaced by calmness.
A single defeat didn't prove anything.
He would use this loss to remind himself to climb to greater heights!
As for Kaede... he took a deep look at him...
He would challenge him again someday!
With that, he turned and left the field without looking back.
Leaving Kaede standing there in a daze.
*'Seriously, dude?'*
Isn't this the finals? How can you forfeit so easily?
Watching Tobias leave without any hesitation, Kaede felt like his heart was being scratched by a cat. When Tobias recalled Latios earlier, he had seen the four Poké Balls on his waist.
That meant Tobias's remaining two Pokémon were most likely not Magikarp, but something else.
Which made Kaede even more curious about what the other two Pokémon were.
But you forfeited so easily?
This left Kaede feeling intensely frustrated, as if a cat was clawing at his heart...
"Gardevoir..."