"Lucario, the opponent has gotten serious. Be careful."
Looking at Darkrai, whose entire body was giving off dark-brown nightmare energy, Ethan warned his partner.
"Luucaarr!"
Lucario nodded with a grave expression and once again condensed the Aura Sphere move in its hand to launch it.
But this time, before it could even reach Darkrai, the Aura Sphere move was directly shattered by the nightmare energy emanating from its body.
"Use Dark Void!"
As the nightmare energy condensed around it, Darkrai clasped its hands in front of its chest, and immediately countless streams of nightmare energy gathered toward it, transforming into a black hole that began devouring everything in all directions.
"It's coming, Lucario, use the power of aura!"
Seeing Darkrai use its exclusive move, Ethan's face turned gloomy.
Faced with the sight of Darkrai using the Dark Void move with all its strength, Lucario adopted a full defensive stance.
In the next instant, the black hole began expanding frantically in every direction, continuously fueled by nightmare energy.
In the blink of an eye, the Dark Void move covered the entire field, completely submerging Lucario within it.
"Luucaarr!"
Lucario, who was already prepared, did not panic and unleashed the power of aura to the maximum.
Immediately, under the cover of the Dark Void move, the power of aura and the power of nightmares began colliding again and again.
"Huh? Where am I?"
At that moment, outside the field, Ethan suddenly felt everything go dark before his eyes.
Afterward, he discovered that he had abruptly found himself in the middle of absolute darkness.
"This is bad... could it be Darkrai's Dark Void move?"
Suddenly, Ethan's expression changed drastically, and a bad feeling arose within him.
And in the next instant, an intense pain violently pierced through his mind: electric shocks, burns, drowning, poisoning...
Countless nightmare images suddenly emerged in Ethan's mind, making him involuntarily let out groans of pain.
"Luucaarr!"
At that moment, Lucario, wrapped within the Dark Void move, instantly perceived the danger Ethan was in through its mental connection with him.
Lucario's expression changed abruptly. Then, without the slightest hesitation, it interrupted its aura power's resistance against the nightmare energy and voluntarily entered the illusory world of the nightmare.
"Damn it... what do I do? What do I do?"
At that moment, Ethan was trapped in a nightmare where a monster was attacking him.
His heart was filled with despair; he had already completely forgotten whether this was reality or an illusion, and yet he kept fleeing with all his strength.
But with a human body, how could he possibly run faster than a monster? In an instant, the creature knocked him to the ground, and his pupils were completely filled by a huge bloodstained mouth.
"Luucaarr!"
Suddenly, a cry echoed within the illusory space.
Then, Lucario abruptly broke into the illusion, releasing the power of aura and directly tearing apart the scene before it.
Once again, Ethan's vision was enveloped in darkness.
Only this time, through the mental bridge built with the power of aura, Ethan felt Lucario's presence.
"Lucario!"
Upon discovering this, Ethan let out a sigh of relief.
He knew that Lucario had pulled him out of the illusion through the power of aura.
However, from the darkness still before his eyes, it was evident that they were still under the cover of the Dark Void move, and that the power of nightmares was still endlessly eroding their minds.
"In this situation, it seems the power of nightmares has followed the mental bridge between Lucario and me, and attacked me directly as well..."
After briefly reflecting, Ethan deduced why he had been affected by Darkrai's nightmare power.
Originally, his plan had been to use that mental connection to help Lucario quickly break free from Darkrai's hypnosis, but now it seemed he had ended up harming himself.
"We can't go on like this. Right now I am being completely protected by Lucario's aura power. If Lucario cannot resist, it is very likely that I will be trapped once again in an endless nightmare."
Ethan's expression became increasingly gloomy. He truly did not want to experience that feeling from before again; if it were not for his rather solid willpower, he probably would have ended up going mad under the torture of the nightmare.
"Luucaarr!"
Lucario was also somewhat anxious.
Through their mental connection, Lucario asked Ethan whether they should surrender directly.
After all, winning or losing was nothing more than a detail; if Ethan suffered another attack, then everything would be lost.
"Lucario, can you feel the power of the Mega Stone and the Key Stone now?"
Ethan's expression also tightened as he thought of a method that might be able to break the power of nightmares.
"Mega Evolution!"
Lucario's eyes lit up.
Afterward, it immediately closed its eyes and began sensing it through the power of aura.
Very soon, its expression turned joyful: thanks to the power of aura, it had managed to feel the Mega Stone and the Key Stone!
"Try to Mega Evolve!"
"Even if you fail, the momentary power of Mega Evolution will be enough to help us break free from the Dark Void move."
Ethan nodded with a grave face. Right now, he was inside an illusion.
Without a doubt, his mental power was at its strongest, so perhaps they really could manage to make Lucario evolve.
"Lucario, let's begin."
"Make the leap of life, Mega Evolve, Lucario!"
In the next instant, Lucario used the mental energy connecting them both to establish contact with the Mega Stone and the Key Stone.
With the help of Lucario's aura power, Ethan and Lucario quickly found the resonance point where their hearts beat as one.
Guided by the bond they shared, the energies of the Key Stone and the Mega Stone began to radiate, firmly linking the two of them together.
Meanwhile, on the outside...
The entire field was covered by darkness.
But in the next instant, everyone watched in astonishment as light suddenly burst from Ethan's body, transforming into innumerable rays that shot into the darkness.
Next, within the field shrouded by shadows, a dazzling light suddenly began to erupt, directly piercing through the darkness!
"What is that?"
"Heavens, that light... is the light of evolution!"
"Did that Lucario evolve!?"
When the darkness dissipated, everyone could immediately see Lucario wrapped in that light.
Within the light, Lucario's form began to change, as if it were evolving, rising toward a higher level of life.
At the same time, Ethan also felt the Key Stone on his body begin to frantically drain his mental energy.
(End of chapter)