Chapter 286: Pursuit!! Illusion
Hearing the sudden voice behind it, Darkrai's heart, which had just begun to relax, jumped into its throat again. It turned around to see Kenji smiling at it, with Ninetales and Beedrill standing behind him.
"How did you get here??!" Darkrai stared wide-eyed at Kenji, incredulous.
Kenji shrugged. "Simple. I followed you."
"Impossible!!" Darkrai retorted instinctively.
The ability to traverse shadows was its signature move. It allowed Darkrai to move freely even through the territories of Champion-level wild Pokémon overlords.
Kenji raised an eyebrow. "Don't believe me?"
"How about a bet?" Kenji asked.
Without waiting for Darkrai to answer, he continued, "If you can shake me off before dawn, I'll leave. But if the sun rises and you still haven't lost me, you become my Pokémon obediently. Deal?"
"..." Darkrai stared at Kenji with its piercing blue eye, then glanced at the formidable Beedrill behind him.
Darkrai didn't answer. It simply faded into the darkness. In a breath, it vanished from the spot, turning into a shadow and fleeing into the distance once more.
Kenji kept his hands in his pockets, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He watched the direction Darkrai fled, his expression unhurried, even leisurely.
...
Twenty minutes later, Darkrai emerged from a tree trunk, panting heavily. It looked exhausted.
It scanned its surroundings. This time, surely they couldn't have followed me, Darkrai thought silently.
One second... ten seconds... thirty seconds...
In the silent night, before Darkrai could celebrate, the boy's haunting voice sounded from behind it again.
"Tired from running so long? Why don't you take a break? We can continue later."
Kenji stood not far away in the exact same pose, looking at Darkrai with that same relaxed expression.
"You..." Darkrai's eyes widened. It said nothing more, silently fading into the shadows again and disappearing...
In ancient times, Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times. Today, Kenji captured Darkrai six times.
Finally, after the sixth time Darkrai stopped to rest, and Kenji appeared nearby yet again, Darkrai completely broke down.
"You lost," Kenji said, hands in his pockets.
Darkrai looked up at the sky. The full moon hung high, stars twinkling. The night was still deep.
"You're cheating! It's not dawn yet!" Darkrai argued stubbornly. Although it was at the end of its rope—even if it was still night, it had no stamina left to run.
Kenji shook his head. He looked up at the sky and spoke slowly. "Didn't you notice... the moon hasn't moved an inch?"
Darkrai froze. It looked up sharply. Sure enough, the moon was still in the exact same position as before. No change whatsoever.
"This..." Darkrai stared wide-eyed, disbelief filling its gaze.
Then, under Darkrai's shocked gaze, Kenji slowly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The crisp sound echoed clearly in the quiet environment.
As Kenji snapped his fingers, the blue glow in Ninetales's eyes behind him slowly faded.
Then, the moon in the sky began to fade. The surrounding environment—the trees, the landscape—began to blur, until finally, they vanished completely.
The illusion shattered. Sunlight poured down. Darkrai turned its head and saw the sun slowly rising on the horizon.
Darkrai looked around and was shocked to find that it was... still by the shores of White Moon Lake!!!
But I clearly ran very far away!!!
Could it be... Darkrai stood rooted to the spot, dazed.
Yes. For the entire night, Darkrai had been running in circles around the lake.
From the very beginning, the moment they met, Ninetales had cast the illusion.
If Darkrai had observed carefully, it might have noticed the many flaws in the illusion Ninetales wove. But unfortunately, from start to finish, Darkrai had focused only on running, never noticing the anomalies in its surroundings.
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